Casimir Ney composer

Louis-Casimir Escoffier, known primarily as Casimir Ney or L. Casimir-Ney (24 February 1801 – 3 February 1877) was a French composer and one of the foremost violists of the 19th century.
Escoffier/Ney was born in Paris. During the mid-19th century, he was active as a performer, primarily in string quartets; he was a member of the Quatour Alard-Chevillard and Société Alard et Franchomme, performing with violinist Jean-Delphin Alard and cellists Auguste Franchomme and Alexandre Chevillard (1811–1877). He was active in Parisian salons and the Société académique des enfants d'Apollon, of which he was president in 1853.

Ney achieved virtually universal critical acclaim as a performer, with special praise for his smooth, broad viola sound. He devoted his efforts almost exclusively to the viola, in contrast to the majority of his contemporaries who went back and forth between the viola and violin. His biography was a mystery until the musicologist Jeffrey Cooper discovered an 1877 obituary of the successful Parisian violist Louis-Casimir Escoffier, who had died aged 75. He most likely took the name Ney from Napoleon's marshal Michel Ney.