Austrian composer. It is not known who gave him his musical training or when he arrived in Vienna, but he began his service at the court chapel there (probably as a violinist) in 1635-36. On October 1, 1649 he officially became a violinist in the court orchestra. He was appointed Vice-Kapellmeister at the imperial court on 1April 13, 1671; on November 24, 1679 he became Kapellmeister. Schmelzer was influential in the development of the suite, and his Sonatae unarum fidium (1664) is the earliest publication in the German speaking countries to contain exclusively sonatas for violin and continuo.