Johann Heinrich Schmelzer

Johann Heinrich Schmelzer was an Austrian violinist and composer of the Baroque era. During his lifetime he was known as a virtuoso violinist, and now he is remembered for his contributions to the development of violin technique and the sonata form. Schmelzer was born in Austria between 1620 and 1623, and not much else is known about his early years. The earliest documentation regarding his life exists in the form of a marriage certificate from his first marriage in 1643. It revealed that he was employed at the time as a cornetist at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. It's likely that the appointment began in the 1630s, but his education and activities before then are completely unknown. Through the 1650s and 1660s, Schmelzer was one of the most famous violinists in Europe, and he also served as a music tutor to Emperor Leopold I. His collection Sonatae unarum fidium from 1664 was one of the first publications written for violin and continuo. It also contributed to the advancement of violin technique, with innovative bowing strokes and virtuosic runs throughout the entire range of the instrument. He was appointed vice-kapellmeister of the Hapsburg court in 1671, where he served under the elderly kapellmeister Giovanni Felice Sances. Emperor Leopold I granted Schmelzer the rank of nobility in 1673, and he added "von Ehrenruef" to the end of his name from then on. After Sances passed away in 1679, Schmelzer von Ehrenruef was appointed kapellmeister, but he fell victim to the plague and died three months later. His three sons, Andreas Anton, George Joseph, and Peter Clemens, all became musicians. His legacy as a composer includes hundreds of sacred works, chamber pieces, and theatrical works. In modern times, his music has been recorded by David Irving, Tekla Cunningham, and the Klingzeug Barockensemble.
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