Remembering Leo Smit (1921-1999)

Leo Smit's Friends and Associates: Sir Fred Hoyle

Photograph courtesy of Nils Vigeland on behalf of the Leo Smit estate.

Leo Smit and Sir Fred Hoyle

Sir Fred Hoyle (1915- ), the British mathematician and astronomer, met Leo Smit in 1953 at a New York City social event. Hoyle had, in Smit's words, "a musical awareness that transcended many a professional musician's scope and understanding." Hoyle provided the libretti for two of Smit's compositions: the opera, Alchemy of Love (1969) and Copernicus : Narrative and Credo (1973), for four-part chorus, narrator and chamber ensemble. Hoyle also performed the part of narrator for the premiere performance and recording of Copernicus.

Title page of Leo Smit's Copernicus

April 2000 Music Library Staff musique@acsu.buffalo.edu http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/music/exhibits/smit/hoyle.html