Scope and Content Note
The Leonard Bernstein Collection is as exceptional a collection as its namesake would suggest. Bernstein, one of the most prominent figures in twentieth century American classical music, made his impact as a conductor, composer of classical and theater music, and as an educator through his books, conducting students at Tanglewood, and especially his various televised lecture series that helped define the potentials of that medium.
Bernstein came to national prominence virtually overnight with his last minute conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic, substituting for Bruno Walter on November 14, 1943. He was twenty-five. Because Bernstein was a national figure from the very beginning of his career, and because his friend and teacher, Helen Coates, became his secretary and "preserver of the flame" beginning in 1944, the Bernstein Collection is not only amazingly complete, but much of it is annotated by Miss Coates to an extraordinary degree. These factors combine to make the Leonard Bernstein Collection one of the most exceptional in the Music Division in the variety and scope of material it contains.
Both the construction of this finding aid and the processing of the collection are considered works in progress. Rather than wait until the entire collection is processed before making it available to researchers--our usual practice--we have decided to make each series available as it is completed. For access to the un-processed materials in the collection, written requests should be addressed to Head, Acquisitions and Processing Section, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington DC 20540-4710. As each series is completed, an introduction to that material will be added at the beginning of the content list to that series.