Concerto in C Major

Ignace Joseph Pleyel (1757–1831) was a highly influential Austro-French composer, music publisher, and piano manufacturer.
Born in Ruppersthal, Lower Austria, in a family of a village schoolmaster, he was reportedly the twenty-fourth child of his father.
Despite growing up in humble conditions, his prodigious musical talent was recognized early by his father and local nobility. His education was funded by Count Ladislaus Erdődy, a Hungarian noble who provided an annual allowance and even a horse and carriage to support the young musician's training. Initially, he studied the composer Johann Baptist Wanhal. At age 15, he was sent to Eisenstadt to become a pupil of Joseph Haydn. He lived in Haydn's household for five years, becoming a "star pupil" and maintaining a lifelong friendship.
His first major position was as Kapellmeister for Count Erdődy in Pressburg (Bratislava). He later moved to France in 1783 to serve as assistant and eventually principal Kapellmeister at the Strasbourg Cathedral. In 1795, he moved to Paris and founded the music publishing house Maison Pleyel (1797), which issued over 4,000 works by major composers like Beethoven and Mozart. In 1807, he expanded into piano manufacturing; his instruments became world-renowned and were famously preferred by Frédéric Chopin.
Pleyel’s compositional style was the epitome of the
Viennese Classical tradition, celebrated for its "accessibility", without the dense intellectual complexity that sometimes alienated amateur performers of the time. His greatest strength was a seemingly inexhaustible gift for cantabile (singing) melodies. His themes were often described as "sweet," "graceful," and "pleasing." Overall, he composed 40 symphonies and 70 string quartets but is mostly known for his chamber music compositions.