Eugène Léon Vivier (1821–1900) was a French horn player, admired by Napoleon III.
Life
He was born in 1821 in Ajaccio, Corsica; his father was a tax collector. He moved to Paris, where he became a member of the orchestra of the Théâtre-Italien.
He studied under Jacques-François Gallay. He became a successful soloist, and played for Louis Philippe I at the Château d'Eu. On his recommendation, Vivier visited London in 1848, where he appeared at the Wednesday Concerts at Exeter Hall. From 1870 he was a favourite of Napoleon III, who gave him sinecures, including an inspectorship of mines.
With a secret device, he was able to play up to four notes at once on the horn. He was known for playing practical jokes: an obituarist wrote that "in their day they were the talk of Europe". He published in 1900 an autobiography, said to be largely fictitious, La Vie e les Aventures d'un Corniste.
Vivier died in Nice in 1900.
References
- ^ Percy A. Scholes. "Vivier, Eugène Léon" in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. Oxford University Press, 1964.
- ^ "Vivier, Eugene Leon" Grande Musica. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
- ^ "Vivier, the Horn Player: Practical joking which was in vogue under Napoleon III" Daily Journal (Telluride, Colorado), May 1, 1900.
- Chitty, Alexis (1900). "Wednesday Concerts" . In Grove, George (ed.). A Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: Macmillan and Company.
- "Vivier, Eugène-Léon" The Diaries of Giacomo Meyerbeer: 1791–1839. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1999. Page 241.