Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (August 12, 1644 - May 3, 1704) was a Bohemian-Austrian virtuoso, and one of the first great composers for the violin.
His music was published extensively, though it was often idiosyncratic. Today he is best known for composing violin pieces requiring the performer to extract unusual chordal effects and sonorities made possible through scordatura, or non-standard tuning of the violin. His works show a tendency towards harmonic diapason and canonic use that pre-dates the works of Johann Pachelbel and Johann Sebastian Bach.
The two most famous works that are heavily reliant on scordatura for special tone colors are the Mystery Sonatas (15 sonatas on the Rosary) and Harmonia artificiosa-ariosa, a set of seven partitas for string ensemble. Especially in his later years, Biber also composed extensive choral music, operas, and sacred music such as the Missa Salisburgensis, an intense polyphonic setting of the mass for 53 voices.