Twenty-fourth child of an Austrian schoolmaster, a pupil of Haydn, he was one of the most performed composers in Europe — forty-one symphonies, seventy string quartets — before stopping everything: in 1807 he founded a piano factory and ceased to write. Chopin refused to play any others.
The story
Ignace Pleyel was born at Ruppersthal, in Austria, on 18 June 1757, into a schoolmaster's large family. A pupil of Haydn, he became one of the most played composers in Europe in the 1790s: forty-one symphonies, seventy string quartets, concertos and chamber music.
Settled in Paris, he opened a music publishing house, then founded a piano factory in 1807. He stopped composing at that point: the instrument maker had displaced the musician.
Pleyel pianos became the pianos of the Paris salons, and above all those of Chopin, who refused to play any other and gave his last Paris concert in the firm's own rooms, in 1848. Chopin lies two Divisions away, in Division 11.
The house long outlived him: the Salle Pleyel, opened in 1927, carries his name, and the pianos were made into the twenty-first century.
He died in Paris on 14 November 1831. His plaque in Division 13 was restored in 2009, at the instigation of the governor of Lower Austria, Erwin Pröll, and of the Pleyel Institute: it is his native country that has looked after his Paris grave.
The grave
A plain plaque, restored in 2009 at the initiative of the governor of Lower Austria Erwin Pröll and the Pleyel Institute: it was Austria that had the Parisian grave of its composer looked after. The inscription fits in three lines and a formula: “Ignace Pleyel, 14 November 1831. De profundis.” Neither the date of birth, nor Haydn, nor the pianos, nor Chopin. The case joins that of other graves in the cemetery maintained from abroad — the statue of Auguste Comte given by Brazil, the monument of Andranik paid for by the Armenian diaspora.
On site, do not miss
A three-line plaque that ends on two Latin words: “De profundis”.
Visitors' questions
Where is Ignace Pleyel's grave?
In Division 13, chemin Méhul, first row — the same path as Méhul's column and that of Sophie Blanchard, “victime de son art”. The plaque, restored in 2009, carries three lines and a “De profundis”.
Étienne-Nicolas MéhulWhat is his connection with Chopin?
Chopin played only on Pleyel pianos and gave his last Paris concert in the firm's salons, in 1848. The composer rests two Divisions away, in Division 11, where his grave is among the most flower-strewn in the cemetery.
Frédéric ChopinWas he a composer or a manufacturer?
Both, but not at the same time: a pupil of Haydn, he wrote forty-one symphonies and seventy string quartets before founding his factory in 1807, then stopped composing. The piano-maker took the musician's place.
Luigi CherubiniWho restored his grave?
His native country: the plaque was remade in 2009 on the initiative of the Governor of Lower Austria, Erwin Pröll, and the Pleyel Institute. It is one of the rare cases in this cemetery of upkeep provided from abroad.
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