Knowra Wanda Landowska Wanda Landowska Wanda Landowska (1879–1959) was a Polish-French harpsichordist and pianist whose performances, teaching, and recordings helped restore the harpsichord to modern concert life.
Denis Diderot : Denis Diderot was an eighteenth-century French philosopher, writer, and editor of the Encyclopédie. Landowska’s 1903 book on early music drew on Diderot’s writings about historical instruments.
Pleyel harpsichord : The Pleyel harpsichord was a robust, metal-framed instrument developed for modern concert performance. Landowska favored this instrument for its power and range in large concert halls.
Goldberg Variations : The Goldberg Variations is Johann Sebastian Bach’s keyboard work, published in 1741 as a theme followed by thirty variations. Landowska’s recording helped establish the work as a major modern harpsichord performance.
Early music revival : The early music revival is the modern movement to study and perform music from earlier historical periods. Landowska became one of its most visible performers and advocates in the twentieth century.
Pablo Casals : Pablo Casals was a Catalan cellist and conductor who helped revive interest in Bach’s cello suites. Like Landowska, Casals made Baroque music central to modern concert life through performance.
Harpsichord : The harpsichord is a keyboard instrument whose strings are plucked by quills or other plectra. Landowska’s revival centered on restoring this instrument to public performance.
The Well-Tempered Clavier : The Well-Tempered Clavier is Johann Sebastian Bach’s collection of preludes and fugues in all major and minor keys. Landowska recorded and performed Bach’s keyboard cycles as living concert repertory.
Harpsichord revival : The harpsichord revival was the twentieth-century return of the instrument to teaching, recording, and concert performance. Her concerts, recordings, and teaching gave this revival a prominent public figure.
Ralph Kirkpatrick : Ralph Kirkpatrick was an American harpsichordist and musicologist known for his Bach and Scarlatti scholarship. He studied with Landowska and became one of the leading harpsichordists of the next generation.
Piano : The piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound by striking strings with hammers. Its dynamic control differs from the harpsichord’s, whose strings are plucked rather than struck.
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