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. The difficulty in these cases lies no so much in establishing a work’s authenticity as in determining whether which version if any should be accorded primacy. The present work probably dates from around 1788-89 and was doubtless written in Strasbourg for one of Pleyel’s celebrated public concerts. The earliest source for the work appears to be André’s print of 1789 in which the work is described as ‘CONCERTO 1r / a / Violoncelle principale’. It was also published - or exists in MS arrangements - for viola, fortepiano, clarinet, oboe, and bassoon. On the basis of the bibliographic evidence, however, it appears that Benton 104 was conceived originally for violoncello. The work is a fine example of the late 18th-century concerto and offers the soloist considerable technical challenges.