Ignaz Josef Pleyel (1757-1831) was born in a village near Vienna. He was given a profound musical education with Johann Baptist Vanhal (1739-1813) and Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), becoming Haydn's favourite pupil. In 1788 he married; of his four children his son Camille became known as a piano virtuoso. In Paris in 1797 he founded a music publishing firm and kept a music shop. In 1807 he started a piano factory together with his son Camille. In its 39 years his music publishing firm published some 4,000 works by, among others, Haydn (the complete string quartets), Beethoven, Boieldieu, Boccherini, Steibelt, Hummel, Rossini, Dussek, Kalkbrenner, Rouget de Lisle, Clementi, Cherubini and Moscheles. After Pleyel's death in 1831 his son Camille took over his father's business. Pleyel's most productive years were 1785-1795, his Strasbourg years: He composed 41 symphonies, 6 Symphonies Concertantes, 8 concerti (most for violin or cello), octets, septets, sextets, 17 quintets, 70 quartets (most of them for strings, some for flute and string trio), 48 trios, 64 duets, hymns and songs. He also made arrangements of Scottish Folksongs, wrote a Requiem, some Masses, more church music and two operas.
