To the editor:

On Wednesday, I attended the concert at the Lied Center presented by the National Symphony Orchestra. It was a splendid program. The orchestra was powerful and confident, the musical selections were varied and interesting (including several of my personal favorites), and the conductor, Emil de Cou, kept this wonderful orchestra well in hand. The wonderful acoustics of the Lied Center were once again equal to the task.

The only discordant note of the evening was the constant misplaced applause by some audience members at the end of individual movements. The first time this happened, Maestro de Cou turned and gave a sickly smile of acknowledgment to the audience. The second time it happened, he gave a wondering look. The third, fourth and fifth times, he properly ignored the interruption.

Is it so much to ask that our audience members simply look at the program in advance to determine the number of movements in a particular piece so that they will not continuously interrupt the performance by inappropriate clapping in the middle of a work? This thoughtlessness is embarrassing to the performers and humiliating to those of us who love music.

Richard L. Warrick,

Lawrence