Perfect pitch is the ability that a person has, when having heard a note played, to name it
correctly. This ability is only possessed by some musicians. It is not an essential ability
but can be an advantage. It can also be a disadvantage for a pianist if the piano is not
tuned to concert pitch. Perfect pitch is sometimes called absolute pitch
Relative pitch
The ability that a person has, when having heard a note named and played, to name
another note when it is played, is called relative pitch. This is an essential ability for any
pianist or other musician.
PLEYEL
Ignace Pleyel (born Ignaz) (1757-1831) was born in Austria and only started building
pianos at a relatively late stage in his career. He first set up as a piano manufacturer in
1805 aged 52. He started off in life as a pianist and composer, and was Haydn’s pupil at
Eisenstadt. His talent was acknowledged by Mozart and his music was highly successful
throughout Europe. After living for a while in Strasbourg and acting as assistant to F.X.
Richter he moved to Paris in 1795 and set up a music publishing firm that he kept until
the end of his life
In 1805 Ignace Pleyel teamed up with Charles Lemme, a well-known piano builder. The
two men split up in 1808 and the legal documents brought into existence at that time
stated that Pleyel was to bring in ‘the necessary finances’ and Lemme ‘only put in his
industry’. Little is known of this three-year association and only one piano carrying the
name of both men is known. After the split-up Pleyel took on foreign workers and set up
his own business building square pianos and harps. It was a difficult time economically
and the business didn’t do particularly well. By 1822, when Ignace formed a partnership
with his son Camille (1788-1855) and gradually retired from the business, Ignace had
only sold about 600 pianos, probably all square pianos.
The Pleyel piano firm really began to take off in the the late 1820s. Their association
with the famous teacher Kalkbrenner in 1825, and a closer partnership agreement in 1829,
brought in fresh money and clients. They got a gold medal at the 1827 Exposition and
started building grand pianos from the mid 1820s. At the death of Ignace Pleyel in 1 831
the firm was running well with production figures increasing steadily. The real take-off
of the firm took place the following year in 183 2 with production figures soaring, when
Chopin, who was to become the firm’s best publicity agent, gave his first concert at the
Salons Pleyel, rue Cadet. Although the nameplate on Chopin-type Pleyel pianos read
‘Ignace Pleyel’ they were actually built by Camille pleyel.
The 1830s are an interesting period for Pleyel pianos because of the permanent
experimentation that was taking place. No two pianos were alike. Casework is usually
superb and there are many technical innovations of interest to the restorer or collector,
such as soundboards veneered in mahogany or rosewood, hollow hammers, strings going