{"id":398,"date":"2020-03-03T08:47:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T14:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/performinghistory\/?p=398"},"modified":"2020-03-03T08:47:14","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T14:47:14","slug":"landowska-an-intimate-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/performinghistory\/2020\/03\/03\/landowska-an-intimate-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Landowska: An Intimate Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wanda Landowska, 1953<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most promising sources on Wanda Landowska is a collection<\/a> of writings detailing her thoughts on both modern music and music of the past. Through quotes and correspondence, her life is revealed as Landowska shares snapshots, like reviews of the latest Stravinsky symphony and communications with Francis Poulenc.\u00a0Landowska on Music,\u00a0<\/em>edited by former assistant and domestic partner to Landowska, Denise Restout<\/a>, gives unparalleled insight into the thoughts and opinions of the French harpsichordist, in addition to the thoughts and opinions of other famous musicians regarding Landowska, herself.<\/p>\n

On Stravinsky and Haydn compared, Landowska echoes thoughts of writers like Milhaud when she writes, “This sudden passage from one work to the other gave me a feeling comparable to that of passing from an air-conditioned room to the normal temperature of the street” (345). This leaves one with a similar idea of the “two absolutely opposed currents”1<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0of French and German music, complimenting French ideologies of national music at the time. Landowska subtly argues a distinction between styles without being as upfront as Cocteau or Milhaud, but through her writings it is clear she, too, feels the rift in European styles.<\/p>\n

It is clear that this source is full of both fact and opinion. On page 344, Landowska describes Prokofiev’s\u00a0Suggestions Diaboliques<\/em>, Opus 4 as “ridiculously silly,” while lauding “the brevity of…seventeenth-century pieces and the good sense of their composers, who avoided trying our patience.” Here, we have both an opinion of quality, but then a factual commentary on stylistic decisions of 17th century composers. We might find this review objectionable, but contemporaries might have found this acceptable. Opinions of music change vastly throughout the years and she clearly held French influence of what music is deemed ‘right’ or worth listening to.<\/p>\n