Ignaz Pleyel
Today, I will focus on an Austrian composer who flourished in the classical period but was overshadowed by the likes of Haydn and Mozart. He gave an exceedingly good musical output and even maintained his legacy as a successful businessman! Born in June 1757 (Sources differ on the exact date - some state the 1st and some the 18th) as the 24th child to the local schoolmaster Martin Pleyel in the small town of Ruppersthal, Ignaz Pleyel went on to become a prolific instrumental composer. He expressed his skills at a young age and studied the clavier under the renowned Bohemian composer Johann Baptist Wanhal. Soon, he found patronage from Count Ladislaus Erdödy (Interestingly, one of the closest friends and the possible muse of Beethoven - Countess Anna Maria, belonged to the same house Erdödy!) who supported him to study under the 'father of the symphony', Joseph Haydn in 1774. (Again, sources differ on whether it was 1772 ...