Pleyel et Cie

Pleyel et Cie was founded in Paris, France in 1807 by the Austrian piano builder and composer Ignaz Pleyel (1757 – 1831). Pleyel relocated to Strasbourg, France in 1783 to take up a position as organist at the Strasbourg Cathedral, changing his name shortly thereafter to Ignace. After a brief stint in London, Pleyel relocated once again in 1795, this time to Paris. The first instantiation of his firm, Maison Pleyel, was established in 1807 primarily as a piano manufacturer, but also operated as a small-scale music publisher. In 1815, Pleyel was joined by his son, Camille (1788 – 1855), who helped establish the Salle Pleyel concert hall. Following his father’s retirement, Camille took control of the company and continued to establish ‘salons’, as it were, throughout Paris, offering composers and performers of the time a common cultural and social venue. Although the American manufacturers would be the first to incorporate and therein standardize the use of the cast-iron frame into the piano, Pleyel holds the honour of being the first manufacturer to implement a basic form of a metal frame. They also pioneered the design of the cottage vertical piano in France. Along with Érard, Pleyel dominated the piano building industry in France throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Pleyel remained a manufacturer until 2013, having previously liquidated Érard in the 1980s.