Pleyel et Cie
Encyclopedia
Pleyel et Cie is a French
piano
manufacturing firm founded by the composer Ignace Pleyel in 1807. In 1815, he was joined by his son, Camille, as a business partner. The firm provided pianos to Frédéric Chopin
, and also ran a concert hall, the Salle Pleyel, where Chopin performed his first — and last — Paris concerts. Pleyel's major contribution to piano development was the first use of a metal frame in a piano. Pleyel pianos were the choice of composers such as Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Ravel, de Falla and Stravinsky and of the pianist and teacher Alfred Cortot
.
with the Pleyela line of pianos. These were often very small pianos of a very unusual design.
Pleyel was the first to introduce the upright piano to France, adapting the best features of pianos built in Britain. They introduced these pianos by 1815. Their pianos were such a success that in 1834 the company boasted 250 employees and an annual production of 1000 pianos.
The company's success led them to invest in experiments, resulting in the Double Piano in 1890. Although not the first company to experiment with building two pianos into the same frame, Pleyel (who patented it as "Duo-Clave") was by far the most successful and produced the largest instruments. A very small number of Double Pianos were manufactured in the 1890s and continued to be made until the 1920s. CDs can be bought today of performances on some of these pianos.
In 1913, Pleyel built the "Jungle Piano" for use by Albert Schweitzer
in his hospital in Lambaréné (French Equatorial Africa - now Gabon
). It was fitted pedal attachments (to operate like an organ pedal-keyboard) and built with tropical woods that would acclimate to conditions there.
Toward the end of the 19th century, the Pleyel firm produced the first chromatic harp
. In the early 20th century, at the behest of Wanda Landowska
, it helped to revive the harpsichord
.
piano companies which also manufactured pianos in France. The Pleyel pianos of today incorporate improvements of these companies and others. In the last two decades, Pleyel Piano was bought by the same family which had bought the Salle Pleyel concert hall in order to revive the name and quality of Pleyel pianos. They built a new factory in the south of France and started making a line of newly designed and improved pianos. Then, in 2008, they decided to downsize the factory and lines of pianos. They moved the factory back to Paris and opened a new factory where they began introducing new pianos designed by famous designers.
The red spruce
used by Pleyel and several other top manufacturers comes from the Fiemme Valley
in Trentino, Italy
. Piano-makers are extremely fussy about this. "It has to be from a north-facing tree," explained Sylvan Charles, a master piano builder who supervises the 15 workers in Pleyel's Paris workshop. "The tree has to be a certain age. The direction of the grain and the thickness are also important, but I won’t tell you any more because that is the secret of our sound." He described the Pleyel sound as "round, warm and sensual." Steinway, by contrast, is known for its bright, powerful "singing" sound.
After a piano is fully assembled, it is moved into a voicing room where an expert with a very arcane assortment of tools will spend some 30 to 40 hours fine-tuning the instrument. "When it comes in here, it is not yet a Pleyel," said Charles, striking a note on a newly arrived piano. "See, that’s a Yamaha sound – very sharp and metallic. But when it leaves this room, it will be a Pleyel."
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
manufacturing firm founded by the composer Ignace Pleyel in 1807. In 1815, he was joined by his son, Camille, as a business partner. The firm provided pianos to Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, and also ran a concert hall, the Salle Pleyel, where Chopin performed his first — and last — Paris concerts. Pleyel's major contribution to piano development was the first use of a metal frame in a piano. Pleyel pianos were the choice of composers such as Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Ravel, de Falla and Stravinsky and of the pianist and teacher Alfred Cortot
Alfred Cortot
Alfred Denis Cortot was a Franco-Swiss pianist and conductor. He is one of the most renowned 20th-century classical musicians, especially valued for his poetic insight in Romantic period piano works, particularly those of Chopin and Schumann.-Early life and education:Born in Nyon, Vaud, in the...
.
History
Pleyel pioneered the player pianoPlayer piano
A player piano is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in...
with the Pleyela line of pianos. These were often very small pianos of a very unusual design.
Pleyel was the first to introduce the upright piano to France, adapting the best features of pianos built in Britain. They introduced these pianos by 1815. Their pianos were such a success that in 1834 the company boasted 250 employees and an annual production of 1000 pianos.
The company's success led them to invest in experiments, resulting in the Double Piano in 1890. Although not the first company to experiment with building two pianos into the same frame, Pleyel (who patented it as "Duo-Clave") was by far the most successful and produced the largest instruments. A very small number of Double Pianos were manufactured in the 1890s and continued to be made until the 1920s. CDs can be bought today of performances on some of these pianos.
In 1913, Pleyel built the "Jungle Piano" for use by Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
in his hospital in Lambaréné (French Equatorial Africa - now Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
). It was fitted pedal attachments (to operate like an organ pedal-keyboard) and built with tropical woods that would acclimate to conditions there.
Toward the end of the 19th century, the Pleyel firm produced the first chromatic harp
Cross-strung harp
The cross-strung harp is a multi-course harp that has two rows of strings which intersect without touching. While accidentals are played on the pedal harp via the pedals and on the lever harp with levers, the cross-strung harp features two rows so that each of the twelve semitones of the chromatic...
. In the early 20th century, at the behest of Wanda Landowska
Wanda Landowska
Wanda Landowska was a Polish harpsichordist whose performances, teaching, recordings and writings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in the early 20th century...
, it helped to revive the harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
.
Today
Pleyel continues to manufacture pianos today, under the corporate auspices of the Manufacture Française de Pianos company. In the 1980s, the Pleyel company bought out the Erard and GaveauGaveau
Gaveau of Paris was a French piano manufacturer. The company was established by Joseph Gabriel Gaveau in 1847 in Paris and used to be one of the three largest piano makers in France . A large factory was located at Fontenay-sous-Bois....
piano companies which also manufactured pianos in France. The Pleyel pianos of today incorporate improvements of these companies and others. In the last two decades, Pleyel Piano was bought by the same family which had bought the Salle Pleyel concert hall in order to revive the name and quality of Pleyel pianos. They built a new factory in the south of France and started making a line of newly designed and improved pianos. Then, in 2008, they decided to downsize the factory and lines of pianos. They moved the factory back to Paris and opened a new factory where they began introducing new pianos designed by famous designers.
The red spruce
Red Spruce
Picea rubens is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec to Nova Scotia, and from New England south in the Adirondack Mountains and Appalachians to western North Carolina.-Physical description:...
used by Pleyel and several other top manufacturers comes from the Fiemme Valley
Val di Fiemme
thumb|300px|Location of the Fiemme Valley in [[Trentino]].thumb|300px|The [[Lagorai]] seen from [[Passo Lusia]].Fiemme Valley is a valley in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region in northern Italy located in the Dolomites mountain region....
in Trentino, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Piano-makers are extremely fussy about this. "It has to be from a north-facing tree," explained Sylvan Charles, a master piano builder who supervises the 15 workers in Pleyel's Paris workshop. "The tree has to be a certain age. The direction of the grain and the thickness are also important, but I won’t tell you any more because that is the secret of our sound." He described the Pleyel sound as "round, warm and sensual." Steinway, by contrast, is known for its bright, powerful "singing" sound.
After a piano is fully assembled, it is moved into a voicing room where an expert with a very arcane assortment of tools will spend some 30 to 40 hours fine-tuning the instrument. "When it comes in here, it is not yet a Pleyel," said Charles, striking a note on a newly arrived piano. "See, that’s a Yamaha sound – very sharp and metallic. But when it leaves this room, it will be a Pleyel."
External links
- Pleyel pianos
- Salle Pleyel, a Paris concert hall built in the late 1920s
- A web site on Pleyel pianos by Stephen Birkett of the University of Waterloo; includes pictures of Pleyel and of historical Pleyel pianos
- Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2001 s.v., Pleyel (ii), pp. 923–924
- Pictures of several Pleyel pianos
- History of Pleyel and their pianos with many pictures and details