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Leonard Cohen’s muse Marianne Ihlen, whom he wrote about in So Long, Marianne and Bird on a Wire, died in Norway on 29 July, aged 81.

Just before she died, a friend contacted Leonard Cohen to let him know the end was near. Less than two hours later a message came back, which her friend read to her.

Art critic Anita Sethi and Telegraph chief music critic Neil McCormick, who has interviewed Leonard Cohen, discussed the message Cohen sent to Ihlen and the broader significance of the muse in the history of art.

(Image: Leonard Cohen. Credit: Getty Images)