[2] He also occasionally joined the quartet as a performer himself, which prompted him to add an additional cello part to his music.

In the beginning of the movement, the first violin plays a simple, elegant melody, while the viola and cello have eighth note pizzicato.

As Elisabeth Le Guin puts it in Boccherini’s Body: An Essay in Carnal Musicology, "The second violinist has no time for galanterie; he must concentrate on keeping the constant string crossings reasonable even through the length of the bow.

The minuet has been used extensively in popular media including movies, television and video games, often as a backdrop or leitmotif to underscore or denote instances of gatherings or settings taking place within high society.

It was quoted by fictional rock guitarist Nigel Tufnel (portrayed by Christopher Guest) in the closing measures of the song "Heavy Duty" in the motion picture This is Spinal Tap (1984), spoofing the classical pretensions of heavy metal groups.

In the late 1960s, the pioneering predecessor of Minnesota Public Radio used the opening section as the intro to its evening classical program.