Sentence:  Those persons who <WSD>were</WSD> lucky enough to see and hear the performance of his work at the Brest-Silevniov Festival in August , 1916 , will certainly welcome his return to public notice ; and it is not unlikely that , even as the great Bach lay dormant for so many years , so has the erudite , ingenious SalFininistas passed through his `` purgatory '' of neglect . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)