Ignaz Joseph Pleyel was born near Vienna, Austria, in 1757. He showed musical talent as a child and was sent to study under Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) at the age of 15. He later served as Kapellmeister to Count Erdödy, who was of relation to Haydn's patrons, the Esterházys. In 1784, Pleyel became assistant to F.X. Richter, then-Kapellmeister of the Strasbourg Cathedral, and succeeded to the post upon Richter's death in 1789. In 1791, after the French Revolution effectively abolished the holdings of both religious services and secular concerts in Strasbourg, Pleyel temporarily relocated to London. There he and Haydn maintained a friendly rivalry during which their music was performed in concurrent concert series. Though Haydn's compositions generally recevied higher popular acclaim, Pleyel's concerts were well attended and his works were praised by the press. He returned to Strasbourg in 1792; his residence there proved to be his most musically-productive period, as the majority of his compositions are dated from 1787 to 1795. In 1795, Pleyel settled in Paris and opened a music shop and publishing house, Maison Pleyel, which produced 4000 works over its 40 years of existence. Of particular note is Pleyel's issue of the first miniature score series. Titled Bibliotheque Musicale, the series contained the entirety of Haydn's string quartets, four of his symphonies, and various chamber works by Beethoven, Hummel, and Onslow.

References

Benton, Rita. "Pleyel as Music Publisher." Journal of the American Musicological Society 32:1 (April 1979): 125-140.

Rita Benton. "Pleyel (i)." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/21940pg1 (accessed April 27, 2009).