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US orchestras are downsizing in post-downturn economy

They are trimming the number of full-time staff and relying on freelance musicians to cut costs

Published Sun, Nov 23, 2014 · 09:50 PM

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New York

COMPOSERs have long dreamed of bigger orchestras.

In Mozart's day, when orchestras were small by modern standards, he boasted in a letter of hearing one "with 40 violins" play a symphony of his. Berlioz fantasized about an ensemble with 467 players. And even if it is a bit hyperbolic, there is a reason Mahler's epic Symphony No 8 became known as his "Symphony of a Thousand".

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