Wanda Landowska

Wanda Landowska was a Polish-born pianist, harpsichordist, and influential music educator, widely regarded as a central figure in the twentieth‑century revival of the harpsichord. Born in Warsaw in 1879 to a Jewish family, she received her early music education at the Warsaw Conservatory, studying under Jan Kleczyński and Aleksander Michałowski. Between 1896 and 1900 she continued her studies in Berlin, where she learned composition with Heinrich Urban. During her early years she developed deep interests in early music and historical keyboard instruments, interests that would later define her artistic legacy.

From 1900 to 1912 Landowska lived in Paris, where she taught at the Schola Cantorum and published her book “Musique ancienne” in 1909. During this period she fully embraced the harpsichord as an authentic instrument for eighteenth‑century keyboard repertoire, debuting as a harpsichordist in 1903 and soon touring throughout Europe. She performed in Sergei Diaghilev’s “Russian Historical Concerts” in 1907, influencing his later use of early music in ballet. Her interpretations of early music inspired new artistic directions and helped reintroduce long‑neglected repertoire to modern audiences.

In 1912 Landowska moved to Berlin, where she opened the first modern harpsichord class at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. After returning to Paris in 1920, she founded her École de Musique Ancienne in 1925, establishing her home in Saint‑Leu‑la‑Forêt as a major center for early‑music study. During the 1920s and 1930s she toured extensively across Europe and the United States and became a French citizen. She also collaborated with instrument builders, notably prompting the Pleyel firm to create a large modern concert harpsichord—an instrument for which composers such as Manuel de Falla and Francis Poulenc wrote new works.

When World War II began, Landowska continued to live and record near Paris, even as bomb blasts interrupted some of her sessions. In 1940, fleeing Nazi persecution with her student and companion Denise Restout, she escaped via Portugal to the United States. Much of her library and her collection of historical instruments were looted. Arriving in New York in 1941, she embarked on a vibrant period of concertizing, lecturing, and teaching that continued until her final months.

Landowska made landmark recordings, including the first harpsichord recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in 1931, and championed both Baroque masterpieces and contemporary works for her instrument. Her scholarly legacy was prepared for publication by Denise Restout, and many renowned harpsichordists—including Ralph Kirkpatrick, Edith Weiss-Mann, Etta Harich-Schneider, Alice Ehlers, and Rafael Puyana—studied under her. She died in Lakeville, Connecticut, in 1959, leaving behind a transformative impact on the performance and understanding of early keyboard music.

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