Wanda Landowska was born in Poland in 1879.  She took to the piano at age four and, once grown, studied at the Warsaw Conservatory. She also took music composition in Berlin, and taught piano and harpsichord.

Interested in musicology, she visited a European museum with keyboard instrument collections – and began acquiring old instruments herself.

Manuel de Falla composed new works for her to perform, which marked the return of the harpsichord to the modern orchestra.

Beginning in 1927, her home in France was a center for the study and performance of old music.

During Germany's invasion, her home was looted, and many instruments and manuscripts were stolen. Practically penniless, she fled to the U. S. with her assistant and life companion, Denise Restout, and re-established herself as a performer and teacher.

This Rainbow Minute was read by Jon Klein.

“The Rainbow Minute” is produced by Judd Proctor and Brian Burns and can be heard every weekday at 7:59am, 12:29pm and 2:59pm on WRIR – 97.3fm in Richmond, Virginia, and webcast at wrir.org. It’s also heard internationally on over 200 stations.