A student of Konig, Ziegler, Trani and Bonno, Ditters became a virtuoso violinist and composer. He held a variety of positions in the courts and cathedrals of Austria and Germany and traveled abroad with Gluck to Italy. A prolific composer the body of his work contained almost every musical genre imaginabale: symphonies, concertos, operas, singspiels, quintets, quartets, sonatas, divertimentos, masses and oratorios. After receiving a title of nobility, Ditters name was changed to von Dittersdorf. The dominant qualities of his music (for his development and awareness did yield changes over the years) display a sparkling wit, primarily diatonic characteristics, variances with rhythm, key, cadences and folk elements, and a development that was consistent with his years. His singspiels alone would have credited him a place in musical history for their popularity and soldification of this musical form ("Doctor und Apotheker," "Betrug durch Aberglauben"). ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi