Drechsler was born in Wällisch Birken, (
Vlachovo Březí, now in the Czech Republic), son of a teacher. He was a choirboy in
Passau and in
Vornbach Abbey, where he studied
basso continuo with the organist Dionys Grotz. He studied law and theology in Prague. He moved to Vienna in 1807, being invited by
Karl Friedrich Hensler to direct the orchestra of the
Theater in der Leopoldstadt; he turned down this offer and remained in Vienna as a music teacher. In 1810 he was
répétiteur and from 1812 assistant director at the
Royal Court Theatre. For a while he was theatre conductor at Pressburg (
Bratislava) and Baden. In Vienna he was from 1814 organist at the
Servite Church, and from 1816 choirmaster at
St Anne's Church. From 1823 until 1845 he was choirmaster at the
University Church and the . At the same time, from 1821 he was theatre conductor at the
Theater in der Josefstadt, and in 1824 he succeeded
Franz Volkert as theatre conductor at the
Theater in der Leopoldstadt, remaining until 1830. He composed incidental music for these theatres, notably for
Ferdinand Raimund's ''''. From 1844 to 1852 he was director of music at
St Stephen's Cathedral, succeeding
Johann Baptist Gänsbacher. His students included
Joseph Wolfram and
Johann Strauss II. Drechsler died in 1852, and was buried at
St. Marx Cemetery in Vienna. ==References==