The first set of
Anniversaries was composed in
Boston and
New York City between 1942 and the fall of 1943, at about the time that he became famous as assistant director of the
New York Philharmonic. It was first performed by the composer at the
WNYC Radio in 1943. The first concert performance took place at the
Boston Opera House, Massachusetts, on May 14, 1944. As in the case of all the other Anniversaries,
Seven Anniversaries was dedicated to many different people who played an important role in Bernstein's life, even though, in this case, most of the dedicatees were musicians.
Aaron Copland and
Serge Koussevitzky were two of Bernstein's most important mentors;
Natalie Koussevitzky, who was Serge's second wife, died in January 1942; composers
Paul Bowles and
William Schuman were both good friends of his. Alfred Eisner, one of Bernstein's roommates during his senior year at Harvard, died when he was 23; finally,
Shirley Bernstein was Leonard's closest confidante.
Seven Anniversaries was published in 1944 by M. Witmark & Sons. == Structure ==