Brandl was born in 1835 in Kirchenbirk in Bohemia (now Kostelní Bříza [de], near Březová in Sokolov district), son of a tobacconist and master carpenter.
He came to Vienna in 1853, where he studied with Jakob Dont and took a bandmaster course with Andreas Leonhardt.
From 1855 to 1865 he conducted theatre orchestras in Baden bei Wien, Ödenburg (now Sopron) and Pressburg (now Bratislava).
From 1866 to the 1880s he was at the Carltheater, conducting operettas including premieres of works by Franz von Suppé, Johann Strauss II and others.
He was also a singing teacher; among his students was the opera singer Antonie Schläger.