Serenade For Sixty Strings – A Tribute to Lawrence Leighton Smith

In 1989, during his tenure as music director of the Louisville Orchestra, Lawrence Leighton Smith wrote an essay stating his personal view concerning the link between the number of players and quality of sound in orchestras. Smith’s “Serenade for Sixty Strings,” published in the March/April 1989 issue of Symphony, the magazine of the American Symphony Orchestra League (now known as the League of American Orchestras), appears here in its entirety with the permission of the League.

Serenade for Sixty Strings (click here to read the complete article)
Examining the link between quantity of players and quality of sound, a seasoned music director presents his case for the full-stringed symphony orchestra
by Lawrence Leighton Smith