Melchior Schramm

Melchior Schramm was a German composer and organist born in Münsterberg, in what was then Silesia (today Ziębice, in Poland), around 1553, and died in Offenburg, in Baden, on 6 September 1619. His career sits at the transition from the late Renaissance to the German polyphonic style, and his importance lies chiefly in vocal music in the German language.

The earliest documented reference places him in 1565 as a member of the choir of the court chapel of Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol. In 1569 he left that post with a three-year scholarship and trained with Servatius Rorif, court organist in Innsbruck. Between 1571 and 1572 he served as organist at a monastery in Halle. In 1574 he became music director and court organist at Sigmaringen; from 1594 onwards he devoted himself exclusively to the organ. From 1605 until his death he was municipal organist in Offenburg, at the Heilig Kreuz church.

Inventories of the period indicate that his works were very well known, and the appearance of his pieces in anthologies reflects that wide circulation. As a writer of German madrigals, he is considered, alongside Jacob Meiland, one of the most important forerunners of Hans Leo Hassler.