Barry Streek
Cape Town’s valuable collection of orchestral scores and instruments, which was under threat of being sold to settle the liquidation debts of the city’s defunct philharmonic orchestra, has been saved and will be placed under the control of a board of trustees.
The recently formed Cape Philharmonic Orchestra made an offer to the liquidator of the defunct orchestra to acquire the assets for R2-million to enable the liquidator to settle the claims of creditors against the insolvent estate. The Cape High Court has approved the transaction.
Cape Philharmonic has, in turn, undertaken to place these assets, including the library and instruments, under the control of a trust.
There were fears that the valuable antique manuscript library, worth millions of rands and irreplaceable because very little orchestral music is published today, would be sold off to overseas buyers.
The music and instruments were owned by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, which was liquidated by its management in an attempt to avoid the financial implications of paying out retrenchment packages to its 80 musicians, most of whom were on holiday at the time.
The orchestra was formed more than three years ago out of the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, whose roots go back to 1914 and which was based at the city hall, and the erstwhile Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, which was based at the former Nico Malan Theatre under the control of the now-defunct Cape Performing Arts Board (Capab).
At the time it was hoped the formation of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra would save and secure the future of orchestral music in the city, but it collapsed last July.
The Cape Town Symphony Orchestra had built up a considerable body of assets, including its manuscript library, which some people thought could be worth millions on international markets. It also had numerous instruments, including percussion equipment, kettle drums, harps, a Steinway grand piano, harpsichords and rare brass instruments. These assets were transferred to the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra when it was formed and its board agreed at the time to establish a trust to protect them but this was never done.
The list of trustees has not yet been finalised but is expected to include Professor Peter Underwood; professor of librarianship at the University of Cape Town, Professor Barry Smith; music critic Deon Irish; the CEO of the Cape Philharmonic, Louis Heyneman, and attorney Christoff Pauw.
Irish said: “This will be a permanent trust to hold these assets in perpetuity for the citizens of Cape Town. “We also hope it will become the library of deposit for original South African orchestral works.
“This collection is irreplaceable. They don’t produce it any more the original engraved scores from the early part of the century. I would have thought it would have gone for millions if it had been sold.”