an Austrian-born French composer and piano builder of the Classical period. Among his early publications was a set of six string quartets, his Opus 1. In the early 1780s, Pleyel visited Italy, where he composed an opera (Ifigenia in Aulide) and works commissioned by the king of Naples, Ferdinand I. Pleyel was prolific, composing 41 symphonies, 70 string quartets and several string quintets and operas.
