Ignace Pleyel

(1757-1831)

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Ignace Pleyel was an Austrian-born French composer of the Classical period. He is one instance of the phenomenon of a composer (others include Cherubini, Meyerbeer, and Thalberg) who was very famous in his own time but presently obscure. According to some, during the brief period between Joseph Haydn's prime and the rise to fame of Beethoven, Pleyel was the most celebrated composer in Europe.

He was born in Ruppersthal in Lower Austria, the son of a schoolmaster named Martin Pleyl. While still young he probably studied with Johann Baptist Vanhal, and from 1772 he became the pupil of Joseph Haydn in Eisenstadt. As with Beethoven, born 13 years later, Pleyel benefited in his study from the sponsorship of aristocracy, in this case Count Ladislaus Erdody (1746-1786). Pleyel evidently had a close relationship with Haydn, who considered him to be a superb student.

Pleyel's first professional position may have been as Kapellmeister for Count Erdody, although this is not known for certain. Among his early publications was a set of six string quartets, his Opus 1. In the early 1780's, Pleyel visited Italy, where he composed an opera (Ifigenia in Aulide) and works commissioned by the King of Naples. Pleyel moved to Strasbourg in France in 1783, where he henceforth went by the French version of his name, "Ignace". He was first the assistant Kapellmeister at Strasbourg Cathedral under Franz Xaver Richter, then became full Kapellmeister in 1789 on Richter's death. In 1788 Pleyel married Francoise-Gabrielle Lefebvre, the daughter of a Strasbourg carpet weaver. The couple had four children.

In 1791, the French Revolution abolished musical performances in church as well as public concerts. Seeking alternative employment, Pleyel traveled to London, where he led the "Professional Concerts" organized by Wilhelm Cramer. In this capacity Pleyel inadvertently played the role of his teacher's rival, as Haydn was at the same time leading the concert series organized by Johann Peter Salomon. Although the two composers were rivals professionally, they remained on good terms personally. Just like Haydn, Pleyel made a fortune from his London visit. On his return to Strasbourg, he bought a large house.

Like his teacher Haydn, Pleyel was prolific, composing 41 symphonies, 70 string quartets and several string quintets and operas. He retired in 1824 and moved to the countryside about 50 km outside Paris. He died in 1831, apparently quite aware that his own musical style had been fully displaced by the new Romanticism in music. He was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.