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 or 1774). He and Haydn developed a close, warm relationship, and their compositions reference each other. Haydn even refers to him as his "dearest and most efficient pupil". Little is known about his formal training, but it is fair to believe that his studies resembled Beethoven's because they shared the same master. He must have undertaken a systematic course of contrapuntal studies based on Haydn's version of Fux’s influential Gradus ad Parnassum. After spending several years with Haydn, he went to Italy. Pleyel imbibed the opera culture until, finally, in 1783, he moved to Strasbourg, France and became an assistant Kapellmeister under the famous composer Franz Xaver Richter. He ultimately took his place after the latter died in 1789.

The time in Strasbourg turned out to be the most musically productive and efficient years for Pleyel, and most of his compositions are dated between 1787 and 1795. Sadly, the French Revolution soon brought an end to both the religious activities of the city and the public concerts. With uncertain professional circumstances, he accepted an invitation to conduct the Professional Concerts in London. Interestingly, the invite was a secret blow to Salomon, who had invited Haydn to conduct a parallel concert series and thus aimed to make Haydn and Pleyel rivals on the professional ground. The blow failed to land, and the Professional Concert was a satisfactory success, featuring symphonies by Haydn and Mozart and one composed by Pleyel for the occasion. Using the fortune he made, Pleyel bought a moated Chateau 35 Km south of the city. Still, due to the Reign of Terror, the revolutionary authorities arrested him based on his foreign status and recent purchases and labelled him a Royalist Collaborator. He narrowly escaped the guillotine and preserved his future by composing various pieces in honour of the new republic. Additionally, the existence of a cantata that he had written, whose inspiration could be claimed to be on the side of liberty, added more weight to his motives, and he thus became a naturalised French citizen.

In 1795, he settled in Paris and shifted directions. He set up a business as a vendor and music publisher, "Maison Pleyel", in 1797. Naturally, he began publishing his works and soon published the first cost-effective paperback musical scores called the Bibliothèque musicale. However, in 1807, he expanded his business to include instrument manufacturing and started a piano manufacturing firm under his name, which his son and future generations carried forward. The firm Pleyel et Cie is currently the oldest piano manufacturer in the world! (Chopin was a fan of the pianos and considered them non-plus ultra!). But Pleyel gradually moved away from his musical endeavours whilst being aware that his style was now being replaced by the Romantic movement, and in 1824, he retired to his house in the countryside. Being severely impacted by the July Revolution in 1830, Pleyel succumbed to death in Paris on 14th November 1831. 

I discovered Pleyel through his piano concertos, but as I listened more, I became fond of his Sinfonia Concertante for violin, piano, and orchestra in A Major Op. 57. It was composed in 1792 and consists of three movements, with the second one being in A minor. The music is jovial, and my favourite part is the beginning of the 3rd movement. The piano nimbly introduces the theme, with an accompanying violin following just behind, and they both merge to provide a serene, soothing sound which lifts your spirits! I would recommend you to give this a listen. Even though Pleyel's name is not that well known now, he had a significant impact during his time. In the end, I would like to quote Mozart, who wrote to his father, talking about Pleyel's quartets, "...If you don't already know them, try to get them; it is worth your while."  

References:

1. Grove's Dictionary Of Music And Musicians, Volume 3 - John Alexander Fuller-Maitland (2015)
2. Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 21 (Payn, James to Polka) (1911)
3. Honegger, Geneviève. “Pleyel a Strasbourg Durant La Terreur.” Revue de Musicologie, vol. 73, no. 1, 1987: 113–19
4. Collected correspondence, and London notebooks of Joseph Haydn - H.C. Robbins Landon (1959)
5. Rita Benton. "Pleyel as Music Publisher". Journal of the American Musicological Society 1979; 32 (1): 125–140. 
6. Wayback machine
   
7. Pleyel Pianos