Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713). They called him the first fiddler. Certainly the first fiddler to play a special violin that isn't special anymore but merely common and he is responsible for changing that: changing an item from special to not, and that is one thing that makes him famous. Died of playing the wrong notes for the king. - Deb Orlin Unferth, "Minute Lives of Great Composers", from Minor Robberies