His father gave him his first violin lessons. He studied in Brussels, then Paris, before taking composition lessons in Vienna. He spent two years in America and six in Russia. He returned to teach at the Brussels Conservatoire. In 1873, he suffered a stroke and could no longer play the violin, so he devoted himself to composition.Autograph letter signed, dated Paris, 23.12.1862: "... remerciez bien c'est messieurs de l'orchestre et leur chef, que vous ne m'avez pas nommé, en mon nom...".