Cello Concerto in C

Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831) was at one time the most famous composer in the world. The popularity of his music eclipsed that of even his teacher Haydn and publishers vied to bring out his latest works as soon as they were finished. Some 2000 separate prints of Pleyel works had appeared by 1800 and his fame extended to every corner of Europe and as far afield as North America. Pleyel’s career as a composer spanned less than thirty years with the majority of his works composed in the 1780s. He founded a successful publishing house in Paris in the mid-1790s and later began manufacturing keyboard instruments. With increasing demands on his time from his business concerns Pleyel’s productivity as a composer dropped sharply and he ceased composing around 1805. One of the most confusing aspects of Pleyel’s concerto output is the existence of multiple versions (for different solo instruments) of the same work. Some of these, which might be termed parallel versions rather than arrangements – stem from Pleyel himself and must therefore be considered authentic. Benton 106 presents just such a case: it is preserved in versions; for clarinet, flute and violoncello. Although Pleyel himself, like several other publishers, issued all three versions simultaneously, the earliest known print, that of Falter (1797), is for clarinet. The concerto probably dates from around 1797 and thus is one of the last if not the last original concerto Pleyel is known to have composed. It is a fine example of the late 18th-century concerto and offers the soloist considerable technical challenges.