Landowska, << lan DAWF skuh, >> Wanda (1879-1959), was a Polish pianist, composer, and harpsichordist. She helped revive interest in harpsichord music in the 1900’s.
Landowska was born on July 5, 1879, in Warsaw. She moved to Paris in 1900, where she researched the musical performance practices of the 1600’s and 1700’s. Landowska became convinced that the harpsichord was the appropriate instrument for music of this period, and she developed modern harpsichord technique.
In the years following her Parisian debut in 1903, Landowska toured internationally, playing both the piano and harpsichord in concerts. In 1923, she made her first visit to the United States, performing as a harpsichord soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, she operated a school near Paris dedicated to the study of early music. She left in 1940 to settle in the United States. When she was 70 years old, Landowska recorded the complete Well-Tempered Clavier by the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Her many writings include the book Music of the Past (1909). Landowska died on Aug. 16, 1959.
