Britten wrote the work for the Viennese-born pianist Paul Wittgenstein, 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[1] but later agreed to a few small alterations.
[3] Wittgenstein played the premiere of Diversions with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Eugene Ormandy on 16 January 1942.
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.
[4] Wittgenstein gave the British premiere of the revised work in October 1950, with the (then) Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra under Trevor Harvey.