Thomas Baltzar, the most famous violinist of his day, was buried in the cloisters at Westminster Abbey on 27th July 1663. The Abbey Precentor recorded that he was a "man unpararel'd in his faculty". He has no monument or grave marker.
His father was David Baltzar, town musician of Lubeck in Germany, and he was born about 1630. The family had been musicians for several generations and Thomas' brother Joachim was also taught the violin. He came to England in the 1650s after having spent some time at the Swedish court. From 1661 he was in the service of Charles II and composed several works. English writers of the period, John Evelyn and Anthony Wood, were astonished by his playing as was Dr John Wilson (who is also buried in the Abbey cloisters). But Thomas was a heavy drinker and this hastened his death.
Further reading
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