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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-01-18, Page 28• WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, } .1978 THE LUCKNOW SENTINEL, LUCKNOW, ONTARIQ A • Symphony Orchestra: strange instr . BY GORDON GREENE PROFESSOR OF MUSIC HISTORY • • The Symphony Orchestra is a rather strange instrument with a varied past, and symphony con- certs each have their own unique qualities. The orchestra 7 is a relatively new ensemble, dating back only about 200 years,. while. the history of Western music; in a form similar to much of today's music goes back well over 1,000 years. Instruments were added to vocal music in performances at court and in churches a millenium ago, but only in relatively recent times has there been a. strictly instrumental group. The large symphony orchestra with about 80-100 players dates back only to the late -nineteenth century. This rather mammoth ensemble has a repertoire limited to works written by major composers in - the last 100 years, and even during this time, many composers have written for about 3S-40 players. • This is the orchestra as Mozart January 21, a generous sampling and Haydn knew it in the of 'the orchestral repertoire will be eighteenth century. The orchestra heard.. Works scheduled range used' in 'operas is usually of this from a Harp Concerto by Handel size as' well, and we therefore (written about 1730) to a twenti- have a large and varied selection eth century orchestral suite by ofmusical works for this smaller Stravinsky. The con, erto by ensemble.. Handel features the harp as a solo instrument pitted against an orchestra made up , mainly of strings. • Included in ' the program are two works by Mozart (1756-91): the overture to the . opera Don Giovanni; and his Symphony No. 35. Mozart was a master of, The London Sinfonia (which . is the core of fully professional players ' numbering. about 35 members) is designed to perform the classical and operatic reper- toire. When the larger- orchestra is required for certain works, -.anothe•r group of instrumentalists is added. to Sinfonia. At the beginning of the *eighteenth century the orchestra, consisted mainly of strings, i.e., violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. Wind instruments such as° oboes, flutes, bassoons, and trumpets were used sparingly for special effects. Incidentally, the • clarinet was not invented until about 1740, and fingervalves which allow brass instruments to play all the•notes of the scale were not available until about 1830. In the program to be performed in Goderich at the high school on HILL r 1 T BY CRAWFORD DOUGLAS HILALK M. P. BRUCE -GREY As we start the New Year, may I . wish you good • health and `happiness throughout 4978 and I hope it will be a good year for everyone. , As many of you are probably aware, the Old Age- Security Pension Payments and the Can- ada Pension Plan benefits will be increased, effective January 1978. Also in January of each year the Faiiiily Allowances leegislation calls for annual escalation of payments in accordance with the increase in the cost of living. I will briefly outline what. the .increases will amount to. OLD AGE SECURITY The basic Old Age Security pension will rise in January to $153.44 from the present $150.43. The Guaranteed Income Sup- plement is paid to pensioners whose income, apart from the Old, Age Security pension,. is limited. The amount of the supplement varies in relation to the amount of income. • The 'maximum Guaranteed In- come Supplement for a single person, or a married person whose spouse is not, a pensioner. and is not receiving a Spouse's Allowance,_ will goup in .January to $107.62 from its current $105.51. The maximum supple- ment for a married couple, both pensioners, will increase to $95.56 each from $9169. Added to the basic pension, this will -give each married pensioner. $249.00 monthly, or a total of $498.00 for the couple. The Spouse's Allowance is paid to persons - between 60 and 65 years of age who are married to Old Age, Security pensioners and meet residence requirements. Entitlement to a Spouse's Allow- ° ance, and amount paid,, is based' on' yearly income. • The maximum Spouse's Allow- ance will 'increase to $249.00, from $244:12. The maximum Spouse's'Allowance is made up of an amount equivalent to the basic Old` Age. Security pension and the maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement at the married rate. The new monthly total at the single rate for persons receiving both the basic Old Age Security pension and maximum Guaran= teed Income Supplement •will be $261.06. , For a married cotuple, both pensioners, the ,,combination of the basic pension and ,maximum supplement will provide a pay- ment of . $498'.00 for the couple monthly. CANADA PENSION PLAN The current retirement pen- sions, disability and surivorst—, benefits, paid to an estimated 965,000 persons, will be raised by 7.5 per cent to 'reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index. FAMILY ALLOWANCES 0 Effective' January, the federal government monthly • allowance paid for children under 18 will rise to $25.68 from $23'.89 in most provinces: • ' I hope that : the above outline will be of some interest to many of you,. If you shouldhave any questions about the programs, I would more than happy to discuss the matter with you further. UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE • • Effective December 4, . 1977, 'there were some changes in the Unemployment Insurance legisla- tion. Area residents must now • have a minimum of eleven weeks cdnsecutiv.e employment before applying for . Unemployment " In- surance benefits. ' The number of weeks of, employment necessary to be eligible for benefits may fluctuate between a maximum of 14 weeps, and a minimum of 10 weeks depending on the rate of unemployment in. each of the regions throughout Canada. It is not expected that there will be much fluctuation in the number of weeks required:., ' The entrance requirements will be shortest in 'areas of high unemployment; • and longest where jobs are most plentiful. Also starting in the New Year, I will be travelling into various parts of the Ridingon a regular basis. Each Monday, I will travel to one of five towns in the Riding to meet with local residents who would like to speak with me. I will by travelling to Wiarton, Southampton, Port Elgin,. Kincar- dine and V 'alkerton on a rotating' basis so that I will visit each of those ° towns once" eyery five weeks. The dates and locations are as follows: Wiarton, Town Hall, 542 Berford, January ' 16, Februaty 20; ' Southampton, Town Hall, High Street, January 23, Febru- ary 27; Port Elgin, Town Halll, January 30, March 6; Kincardine, Constituency Office, - Murray Gaunt's,* 746 Queen Street, Pebruary 6,' March 13; Walker- ton, Town Hall, 111 Jackson, February 13, March 20. CONTINUED ON PAGE 28 orchestral technique, .who . man- aged to introduce the main themes from his operas in the opeing instrumental overtures. The nineteenth-century . Rus- sian composter Glinka is repres- ented in the program as well. A Wedding Song • and Dance em- ploying Russian melodies was written . in .1848 and is named Kamarinskaya. The orchestra used in this work 'is like theone found in the orchestra pit in an open house. Stravinsky reacted against the huge orchestra when he started composing in the first decade of the present century. He preferred fewer instruments because it provided him with more clarity. Much of Stravinsky's early music was written for Diaghilev's Rus- sian Ballet. The Pulcinella Suite is dance music based on an early -eight- eenth century composer Pergol- esi. Stravinskywas charged with plagiarism for having borrowed so freely from Pergolesi but he defended himself by saying he had breathed new life. into the work of a forgotten composer. Pergolesi, incidentally, died in 1736 at the age of 26 having written over 100 operas, many orchestral works and much church music. One ' biographer stated that he (Pergolesi) died at, such an early age because of an over -indulgence in of the some . PAGE TWENTY-SEVEN P' t more exhaustive pleasures of life. • The Pulcinella Suite . pays • . delightful tribute to this kind of exuberance. A suite i��a collection .of small , pieces, ustha11y .dances, designed ,1 to form a unity. A symphony, 'on the other hand, usually has four movements in classical forms like sonata, rondo, theme and varia- tions, etc.• The suite is less fornially organized.. The January 21st program in Goderich is once again presented by the Goderich Rotary Club in ' co-operation with the Sully Foun- dation and provides an excellent opportunity to hear 'symphonic works written for a small group of the aristocracy 200 years ago, and - for the public concert hall of our own century. Subscription ticketsare still available for' the remaining two concerts. No individual tickets are von sale but rush seats . will be available at the door . (G.D.C.I. auditorium) at 7.55 p.m. . CLIFFORD EVENS conductor FEATURING: =Maria Lorcini, Harp Soloist -The London Sinfonia which comprises the 30 full time musicians of the London Symphony Or- chestra. Mozart - Mozart - Handel - Gi'ink° Stravinsky, Don Giovanni Overture Symphony No. 35 "Haffner" Concerto for Harp Kamarinskaya Pulcinella Suite Copland - Dvorak - Grieg • Chabrier - Hayman - Cable - Fanfare for he Common Mon Secon • Movement from Symphony No. 9 Sigurd Jorsalfar Espana Cinema Rhapsodies Commissioned work Subscription Tickets Still Available For The Remaining Two Concerts: ADULTS - '9, FAMILY -'20, AT CAMPBELL'S, ON THE SQUARE, GODsRICH Since this is a subscription seriQ;, no individual tickets are for sale. R;',"sin tickets will be available Only at the door at 7:55 p.m. O. per person) S .insored by the Goderich Rotary Club under the patronage of the. Sully Foundation. r