Boccherini's cello sonatas are not mentioned in the catalog he kept of his own compositions. It has been speculated that this was because he may never have intended them to be published, viewing them either as immature works (they were written sometime before he was 25) or as too difficult for amateur performers. It is uncertain if the manuscripts are autographs, but it is certain that the music is his and that he performed them in his concerts. They are all are scored for cello and basso, not a full continuo, because there is no figured bass in the score, but probably another string instrument. Most modern performances do, however, fill this out like a traditional basso continuo.

The Sonata in A major, G. 4, has a peculiar and confusing history, which accounts for the various forms found in performances and recordings. It is one of a set of six sonatas that was published (unauthorized by Boccherini) three times in London between 1770 and 1816, and in more modern editions, some of which have a piano part added, not to mention the versions transcribed for violin. All the editions of this sonata place the slow movement first, giving the order Adagio-Allegro-Affetuoso, although it is in the manuscript traditionally with a fast—slow—fast structure. One particular edition has only the first two movements, which is why some recordings feature two movements and some, three. And finally, to confuse things further, there is a manuscript version that has an entirely different Allegro movement (and which does place the Adagio first). The Allegro that is normally used in performance is based on an aria, Se d'un amor tiranno, G. 557, for soprano and cello, which Boccherini composed for Metastasio's Artaserse. (The same aria is used again in Boccherini's Sextet for flute and strings, Op. 16/6.) It is a Baroque-sounding song, about the constancy of love, filled with florid and virtuosic passages, played in the upper register of the cello. The Adagio is also very lyrical and organic in its ornamentation and in the way phrases are linked together. The final Affetuoso is a minuet, elegantly stated with the soloist at times echoing itself, using a drone, or throwing off a showy fillip. Overall, the sonata is characteristic of the Empfindsamkeit fashion of the day.

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