The New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein Conducting

The New York Philharmonic Orchestra performs under the direction of Leonard Bernstein during a 1959 concert at Festival Hall in New York City. Modern symphonic orchestras often include more than 100 musicians. A wide variety of musical instruments are represented in an orchestra, typically arranged into sections of string, woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments. Composers write for the various orchestral instruments, and the aggregate of different sound qualities produced by the instruments results in the orchestra’s overall tone color. One of the many functions of the conductor is to help ensure that the orchestra’s tone color is balanced and appropriate for the piece performed.

LDE/Archive Photos