Luigi Boccherini is the best of the unknown composers. Classical Music junkies know who he is but, to people who think that Back and Mozart are the first and last name of one guy, Luigi Boccherini is a name with no memory trigger.

From Wiki:

Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini (February 19, 1743 – May 28, 1805) was a classical era composer and cellist from Italy, whose music retained a courtly and galante style while he matured somewhat apart from the major European musical centers. Boccherini is mostly known for one particular minuet from his String Quintet in E, Op. 13, No. 5, and the Cello Concerto in B flat major (G 482). This last work was long known in the heavily altered version by German cellist and prolific arranger Friedrich Grützmacher, but has recently been restored to its original version.

See? Your pulse rate up yet? Classical composers are so edgy … whatever.

I have three sets here for you. The first is a compilation that was partially used in Master and Commander (the middle bit) at the very end of the movie. I love every measure of this piece and I often set it on repeat on my MP3 player when I take the bus to work.

This is the one piece that everyone has heard, but think that Mozart wrote:

And this one is just beautiful: