Eisfeld, Theodor

1816-1882

German conductor, who was born at Wolfenbuttel. Was a pupil of Karl Muller at Brunswick, in violin, and Reissiger at Dresden in composition. He became director of the Theatre at Wiesbaden from 1839 to 1843, and in the latter year, of the Concerts Viviennes, Paris. In this post he favored a high musical standard, and studied at intervals with Rossini at Bologna. He was made an honorary member of the Academy of St. Cecilia. From 1848 to 1866 he lived in New York and conducted the concerts of the Philharmonic Societies for several years, and also those of the Harmonic from its beginning. With Noll, Reyer, and Eichhorn as colleagues, he carried on a series of evening quartet musicales in 1851. In 1866, en route to visit Germany, the steamer Austria was destroyed by fire; and Eisfeld, though one of the few surviving passengers, suffered hardships and exposure that resulted in a nervous disorder which ended his musical career. He died at Wiesbaden.