Thirteen Anniversaries
# Thirteen Anniversaries

Thirteen Anniversaries is a composition for solo piano by Leonard Bernstein, published in 1988, commemorating 13 people who played an important role in his life.

## Background

Bernstein wrote this set after similar collections, Seven Anniversaries (1943), Four Anniversaries (1948) and Five Anniversaries (1949–1951). Each movement celebrates a person. Some movements are dedicated to a person close to the one commemorated. The work was given its first performance by Alexander Frey in Berlin in 1998.

## Movements

The titles, referencing the persons, are:

* For Shirley Gabis Rhoades Perle
* In Memoriam: William Kapell (an American pianist who died young in a plane crash).
* For Stephen Sondheim
* For Craig Urquhart
* For Leo Smit (an American composer)
* For My Daughter, Nina
* In Memoriam: Helen Coates (one of Bernstein's most esteemed teachers)
* In Memoriam: Goddard Lieberson (former executive of Columbia Records)
* For Jessica Fleishmann
* In Memoriam: Constance Hope
* For Felicia, on our 28th Birthday (and her 52nd)
* For Aaron Stern
* In Memoriam: Ellen Goetz
