Catherine Dower

Yella Pessl, First Lady of the Harpsichord a Life of Fire and Conviction Catherine Dower

Examines the career of Yella Pessl, a Bach specialist, virtuoso harpsichordist and pianist, authority on seventeenth and eighteenth century Baroque keyboard music which she wrote about and edited. It discusses her early years in Vienna; her American debut; the Bach Circle which she founded; presents four of her articles on keyboard music; includes interviews; recollections of Alexander Wunderer, her teacher; and a section on her musical sister who lived in Austria under Hitler's reign. It brings to light Pessl's disorganized years, life in mental institutions, and complete recovery.