He was born in Vienna as Carl Ditters. He had violin lessons from Giuseppe Trani and compositions lessons from Giuseppe Bonno. He served in a number of courts, including as Kapellmeister to the Prince-Bishop of Breslau from 1770 to 1795. He died in Neuhof, Bohemia.
His works are little performed today, but he was well known in his day, and is considered an important composer of the Classical era. After some early Italian opera buffa, he composed a number of German Singspiele, with Der Apotheker und der Doktor (1786, generally known today as Doktor und Apotheker) in particular being a tremendous success in his lifetime, playing in houses all over Europe. His symphonies (around 110 of them) are also considered fine pieces with their folk-like melodies and witty passages; they include twelve based on Ovid's Metamorphoses (six of which have survived to the present day). He also wrote oratorios, cantatas, concertos (including two for the double bass and one for the viola), chamber music, piano pieces and other works. His memoirs, Lebenbeschreibung, were published in Leipzig in 1801.