Paul Wittgenstein was a one-handed concert pianist, practically unique in classical music annals.

Born into a wealthy Viennese family, he was the elder brother of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. He made his piano debut in 1913 but on the outbreak of war joined the Austrian army.

Wounded, he had his right arm amputated in a field hospital, then spent two years in a Siberian prison camp.

Determined to overcome his disability, he set about perfecting his left-hand technique. Impressed, many leading composers wrote works specially for him.

Most notable among these is Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand (1931), a major work still very much in the repertory, so skilfully designed that an innocent listener, hearing it for the first time, would not guess the pianist is employing only one hand.

Richard Strauss, Sergei Prokofiev, Benjamin Britten, Paul Hindemith and Erich Korngold also wrote works for Wittgenstein, though he did not always like what they produced.

He never performed Prokofiev's concerto and nobody has ever performed the Hindemith work, the score for which has only just surfaced amid the pianist's widow's effects.

Wittgenstein fled in 1938 to the US, where he died in 1961, aged 73.

-Roger Moodiman, Marine Parade, Brighton