Wanda Landowska

Wanda Landowska, a Polish composer and harpsichordist, conducted extensive research on all aspects of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music, and published her book Musique ancienne in 1909. Landowska toured throughout Europe performing Bach concertos on harpsichord; her concerts, research, and writings spurred the twentieth-century revival of the instrument and the development of modern harpsichord technique. Landowska also taught classes at conservatories in Berlin and Paris, and in 1925 founded her own school, the École de Musique Ancienne (School of Ancient Music), north of Paris at Saint-Leu-la-Fôret. After her death in 1959, her life companion, Denise Restout, edited and translated her writings and music, preserving Landowska’s artistic legacy.