Britten wrote the work for
Paul Wittgenstein, the Viennese-born
pianist who lost his right arm in
World War I. Britten met Wittgenstein in New York in July 1940 and sketched the piece in August at Owl's Head,
Maine. Although Wittgenstein complained about the orchestration, Britten initially declined to make any changes but later agreed to a few small alterations. Forever after, he felt bitter about them, and after 1950 he revised the score "to create an official version that would stop Paul playing it by rendering his version obsolete." Wittgenstein retained the performing rights for a good number of years, which kept other pianists from performing the work. Wittgenstein played the premiere of
Diversions with the
Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of
Eugene Ormandy on 16 January 1942. The Philadelphia reviewers commented more on Wittgenstein and his work as a one-armed pianist than on the composition itself.
The Philadelphia Record did describe the score as "ingeniously written", while
Musical America commented on the presence of both "pleasurable and dull moments" in the work. Wittgenstein gave the British premiere of the revised work in October 1950, with the (then)
Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra under
Trevor Harvey. Britten then made further revisions and in 1954 made his own first recording, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra with soloist
Julius Katchen. == Music ==