BIBER, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von

Born in Wartenberg [now Stráž pod Ralskem], near Reichenberg [now Liberec], Bohemia, baptized Aug 12, 1644
Died in Salzburg, May 3, 1704

[PRONUNCIATION]

• Biber was a violin virtuoso and court musician who worked as a composer and Kapellmeister for the Archbishop of Salzburg.
• Emperor Leopold I granted Biber accession to nobility in 1690.¹ This was an uncommon achievement for Baroque court musicians, who were generally regarded as servants.²

Short biography

1. Elias Dann and Jiří Sehnal, “Biber, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von,” Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2001), accessed July 25, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000003037.
2. Bruce Haynes, The End of Early Music: A Period Performer’s History of Music for the Twenty-First Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 132.