From the Library of Congress Archives: The Leonard Bernstein Collection Celebrates the Great Composer

The Library of Congress has created a magical collection in honor of the legendary Leonard Bernstein. The Leonard Bernstein Collection at the Library of Congress showcases Bernstein as one of the most prominent figure in American classical music. He made a major impact as a composer of classical and theatre music. His work with students as an educator also inspired thousands of young children.

On November 14, 1943, Leonard Bernstein became an overnight success when he was a last minute conductor with the New York Philharmonic as the age of 25. According to the Library of Congress "Because Bernstein was a national figure from the very beginning of his career, his friend and teacher Helen Coates, who became his secretary in 1944, maintained his papers meticulously and extensively annotated many of them. The Bernstein Collection therefore offers a remarkably complete record of his life and is one of the Music Division's richest repositories in the variety and scope of its materials."

The Library of Congress Music Division acquired this amazing Leonard Bernstein Collection that spans close to 44 years. Between 1953 and 1967, Bernstein began to donate some of his most significant items to the Library of Congress. The artifacts included music manuscripts from West Side Story and Wonderful Town, his 1st symphonies Jeremiah and The Age of Anxiety, the score for the film On the Waterfront, his Prelude, Fugue and Riffs and so much more. "From 1965 to 1983, Bernstein gave 104 scrapbooks to the Library; five additional scrapbooks were given by Brandeis University in 1973."

In 1991, The Leonard Bernstein Collection recieved a major, life-altering donation. Helen Coates, Bernstein's longtime friend and secretary, left close to 94 letters, music manuscripts and other items that helped expand the collection. That same year over 600 additional letters that Coates had in her possesion were given to the collection thanks the Springate Corportaion, representatives of the Bernstein estate. The Springate Corporation continued to donate thousands of items to the Leonard Bernstein Collection. Lastly, in 1997 Leonard Bernstein's brother, Burton, donated 95 additional items to the collection.

The Leonard Bernstein Collection is available to be viewed and studied in the Performing Arts Reading Room at the Library of Congress. You can also view 85 photographs, 177 scripts from the Young People's Concerts, 74 scripts from the Thursday Evening Previews and over 1,100 pieces of correspondances online through the Library of Congress website.

The Leonard Bernstein Collection contains over 15,500 pieces of correspondances to and from Leonard Bernstein and helps his memory live on for future generations of music enthusiasts. For more information on the collection click here.

Photo Credit: The Leonard Bernstein Collection