The revival of the harpsichord as a concert instrument was chiefly due to Wanda Landowska.
Born in Warsaw, she was initially a pianist but, in her 30s, began to perform the keyboard works of Bach, Handel, Scarlatti and Couperin on the instrument for which they were intended.
Although her romantic interpretive style was remote from modern notions of authentic performance, she played with vivacity and clarity.
She liked to give the impression she had a direct line to Bach.
She once concluded an argument with a colleague with the words: "Very well, you continue to play Bach your way, and I'll continue to play him his way."
Her stage manner was dramatic. The platform would be arranged like her living room, with subdued lighting, and her birdlike figure would enter with hands pressed together in prayer, eyes raised heavenwards, as if communing with Bach's spirit.
She wore a shapeless black covering and velvet ballet slippers, taking minutes to reach the harpsichord.
Manuel de Falla and Francis Poulenc wrote concerti for her. Resident latterly in the US, Landowska died in 1959 aged 80.
-Roger Moodiman, Marine Parade, Brighton
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article