LEVY, EDUARD CONSTANTIN:

By: Isidore Singer, Emil Jelinek

German musician; born March 3, 1796, at Sanct Avold, Lorraine; died June 3, 1846, at Vienna. He received his first lessons in music from his father, a musician to the Duke of Zweibrücken. As the protégé of a French officer he entered, at the age of fourteen, the Paris Conservatoire, where he became proficient in the bugle (which he chose as his favorite instrument), the cello, and the violin. He joined the French army in 1812, served with the Old Guard through the Waterloo campaign, and at the Restoration was appointed bandmaster and drum-major. After retiring from the service he went on concert tours through France and Switzerland, married at Basel, and in 1824 went to Vienna, where he became soloist in the K. K. Hof-Oper. In 1834 he was appointed professor at the Vienna Conservatorium, and in 1835 became a member of the Imperial Hofkapelle.

Levy's three children inherited his musical talent: Karl was a pianist, Melanie a harpist, and Richard Eduard a cornetist. In 1838 they accompanied their father on concert tours through Russia and Germany.

S. E. J.