The Pleyel Piano

The Pleyel Piano company was established in 1807 Paris by Ignace Pleyel.  Born in 1857 in Austria, Ignace was a child prodigy, excelling as an accomplished pianist at a young age. He was a student of Haydn, and later composed many works which became popular throughout Europe.

Pleyel moved to France in 1783 to work alongside Franz Xaver Richter, the maître de chapelle at the Strasbourg Cathedral.  The cathedral Pleyel as it possessed a full orchestra, a choir, and a large budget devoted to performances. During this period, Pleyel continued to make significant musical contributions. During the French revolution, he was suspected of royal leanings and condemned to death. He maintained his loyalty to the republic and was compelled to compose music with a revolutionary theme.

When Ignace Pleyel died, his son Camille carried the business forward. Pleyels early pianos were Cottage Uprights similar to those made in England in the 19^th Century.  British piano building clearly influenced Pleyel as Camille had spent several years in London studying piano making with Broadwood, Collard and Clementi. Pleyel adopted the Wornum upright action design and the Broadwood action for Pleyel grands. The Pleyel pianos pictured below all have the English action.  In many respects, Pleyels of this period closely resemble Broadwood grand pianos.

During the middle of the 19^th century, there was a need to continue to improve and innovate as proliferation of piano manufacturing companies across Paris was increasing. Pleyel continued to build beautifully constructed pianos while maintaining many traditions. Like Broadwood, the continued manufacturing straight-strung pianos while the Americans and Germans were beginning to over-string their grands.

Pleyel became a formidable competitor to Erard producing high quality instruments for use by the most accomplished pianists in the world.  Erard had dozens of patents for improvements to the piano. Probably his most famous invention is the double escapement action which is still used to this day in pianos. Numerous famous composers cherished Erards including Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Rubinstein and Paderewski. The two companies prospered throughout the 19^th century and continued to hold high regard from the world’s most famous virtuosos.

The artist most associated with Pleyel, is Frédéric Chopin, who played Erards and Broadwoods but made his preference for Pleyels widely known throughout his career.  Chopin owned numerous Pleyels which he used for both his compositions as well as concerts. Several of Chopin’s Pleyel pianos can be seen in the table below.

 Shaffer Pianos is currently restoring a Chopin era Pleyel grand piano.  Photos can be seen here