SABC Cape Town Media Library launches Employee Mental Wellness Initiative

SABC Music Therapy Room launch - Cape Town Library 

A meaningful milestone for the SABC Cape Town Media Library: the official launch of its Employee Mental Wellness Initiative. Built on the strength of their rich and diverse music collection, this programme is designed to promote emotional wellbeing in the workplace.

SABC Music Therapy Room 

Why this initiative matters

This initiative aligns with the SABC Employee Mental Wellness Programme and was developed to support the emotional and psychological health of their staff. It acknowledges the period of challenges faced during the 2021 retrenchments and the challenges during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. By prioritizing wellbeing, they are investing in a healthier, more resilient workplace culture.

What’s included

SABC Music Therapy room

🎵 Weekly Curated Music Playlists

• Each week, they roll out themed playlists crafted to help employees relax, rejuvenate, and relieve stress.
• Music is widely recognized for its healing properties: it can ease anxiety, lift mood, and offer comfort through times of grief or trauma.
• These playlists are a simple, accessible way to incorporate intentional wellness into the workday.

🛋️ Music Therapy Rooms

SABC Music Therapy Room - ambient lighting

• They have established dedicated Music Therapy Rooms within the library.
• Spaces include individual listening booths, comfortable seating, and ambient lighting.
• The goal is to provide calming, immersive environments where staff can take mindful breaks and reconnect with themselves.

Launch highlights

🟢 Successful Launch – 5 August

Thembakazi Ntulini, Principal SABC Music Library Cape Town 

The official launch on 05 August was a success. It was heart-warming to see staff engage with the space and embrace this wellness resource with enthusiasm and appreciation.

More photos from the launch: 

Looking ahead

This marks just the beginning. They are committed to growing the programme to further support the wellbeing of their colleagues. Future plans may include expanding playlist themes, increasing accessibility to the Music Therapy Rooms, and exploring additional wellness activities that complement the music-based approach. The plan is also to open music therapy rooms in all of the regions, and to extend it to SABC in Johannesburg. 

Why this matters to the broader community

• Employee wellbeing drives productivity and morale: When staff feel supported, engagement and performance tend to improve.
• Accessible wellness resources matter: Providing spaces and curated content lowers barriers to taking time for mental health.
• A culture of care resonates beyond the workplace: Wellbeing initiatives can inspire healthier habits at home and in the community.

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If you’d like to learn more or share ideas for future playlists or wellness activities, they would love to hear from you. Let’s continue this journey toward a more mindful and resilient workplace. 

Storify of International Archives day in the SABC Media Libraries #IAD16 #ArchivesRock

#ArchivesRock on International Archives Day 2016

International Archives day #IAD16

The SABC Media Libraries will be celebrating International Archives Day on 9 June again this year! The themes and archive content that will be shared will reflect the rich heritage of music, musical instruments and archive content that we preserve!

International Archives Day 2016 #IAD16 is coming up! Like every year Follow An Archive and Ask Archivists organize a celebration event on Twitter.
With the celebration event we join the June 9 theme ‘Archives, Harmony and Friendship‘ of the International Council on Archives (ICA).
The theme of the annual Twitter event will be #archivesrock. It’s about music in archives.
Archives rock!

Music makes a perfect match with the ICA theme ‘Archives, Harmony and Friendship’!
Remember the song ‘Ebony and Ivory’, a 1982 number-one single by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder?
“Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony | Side by side on my piano…”.
It contains music and lyrics worth to keep in an archive, performed by two friends singing and playing together in perfect harmony!
So let archives rock on June 9, International Archives Day, and contribute to Friendship and Harmony!  - AskArchivists

The following is a photo that was shared on SABC Music Library's Facebook Page
 



See you on Twitter on Thursday?


Twitter: @SABCMediaLib 

             @SABCRadioArc

              @SABCMusicLib

              @SABCInfoLib

               @SABCRecordLib

              @SABCAudioRest 
 
               @SpringbokRadio

Steve Kekana launches his new album at the SABC Record Library

Steve Kekana: Risen

Report by Jacqueline Wilson
Music Librarian


Renowned music legend, composer and artist Steve Kekana blessed the SABC Record Library with his presence at the launch of his 44th album called “Risen” on Friday 22 August.

Risen is a re-recording of some of his biggest hits. This album includes  memorable songs like “Slow Drive to Soweto”, “Sanibonani”, “The Bushman” and other songs that will put you in a dancing mode.

With the man of the moment speaking, the one thing taken from his speech is that he has always loved music and wants his music to be part of South Africa’s past, present and future. He loved being at the SABC Record Library and in his own words he said: “The Record Library is the epicentre of a music earthquake”.

Present at the launch were members from Next Music Record Company and the publishers who deal with the distribution and marketing of the album, as well as music compilers from different radio stations and other music guests from inside and outside the SABC.

The room was filled with warmth and so much laughter, and the Record Library is humbled to have had such an amazing person in their presence.

New Music Librarian: Jacqueline Wilson

Jacqueline Wilson is the new music librarian at the Music Library. She has been at the SABC Music Library for 2 months.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. (Where you grew up, where and what you studied and your work experience before you joined the SABC Music Library?)

I was born and raised in then North West in a small town called Zeerust. I started my schooling in 1997 and matriculated in 2009 from Hoërskool Zeerust. I enrolled at the University of Pretoria (Tukkies) in 2010 doing my Bachelors of Information Science. I completed my degree in 2012 and graduated in record time in 2013. My work experience started with me doing some vacation work in retail stores but for my field of study it has been at the SABC where I started my internship in the Information Library of the SABC in 2013. After completing my internship programme I had a break where I started looking for something more permanent and I successfully landed the job at the Music Library.

Tell us more about your collection and the scope of material you need to preserve.

We have a vast amount of material in our collection, where our biggest category is the orchestral collection. We then have some vocal scores, light music, chamber music, choral music and voice and piano. Everything that we have in the library is worth preserving. Some of the material we have is still in the handwriting of the composer and/or we are the only library that still have it.

Please tell us about a normal day in your office. What material do you give priority to?

My day starts at 08:00 till 16:30. I start by checking emails and if there are any queries. Currently we are looking at importing to a digital platform, so I also do some research on what other music libraries use so that we conform to a standardised form of cataloguing. Our priority now is the orchestral and vocal scores because they get requested more often by clients. We want to start ingesting them into Inmagic as it will save us a lot of time and help us being able respond promptly to clients' requests.

Do you struggle with technical difficulties, and if so, what?

So far I haven’t really experienced major technical difficulties.

If you have an anecdote about a specific piece of interesting music or musical instrument, please share it with us.

Getting to learn more about the instruments and even material is something that I cherish. The one story that always comes to mind is the Steinway Piano we have in the M1 studio. I got to learn that the piano actually has a life support system underneath it. The life support system is actually a humidity control system which keeps the piano in tune and prevents damage from climate changes. What happens is water and some form of chemical used for piano life support systems is mixed together and poured into the piano through a pipe which keeps its piano’s tune in place. This was such a fascinating discovery. And that piano is just beautiful!

Tell us why you enjoy doing the work that you do.

I love that I always learn something new every day. I love music and apart from not being that familiar with the classical music genre I am still very much open to new adventures. I also love what I do because I am able to learn how to play an instrument or two as well. 


Related post:

- The Music Librarian - SABC Media Libraries 

Blog post and questions by Karen du Toit

Out with the old, in with the new

A new set of timpani for the SABC Music Library.

By Suzette Lombard,  Principal Music Librarian

The SABC Studio Orchestra with conductor Theo Wendt,
taken in the old SABC studios in Commissioner Street in 1952

Most classical music instruments are made to last, and some do last a lifetime. Many of the instruments in the Library were purchased in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s of the previous century, when the SABC still had its own symphony orchestra.

Some instruments are still working hard, as a lot of regular library clients will be able to testify!

An old Ludwig timp which is being written off

A few of the older timpani or kettle drums have been repaired, overhauled and serviced countless times, but have now finally earned some rest. They will be replaced by a new set of Yamaha concert timpani bought recently.

A new Yamaha timp in its light-weight custom-made transport case

Related posts:

New Yamaha Grand Piano

Acquisition in the SABC Music Library - Paiste Crotales

Searching for Sugar Man, also in the SABC Archives

"Sugar Man", the story of a forgotten singer, won the best documentary at the Oscars this week.
Sixto Rodriguez made two records in the early 1970s, but it never took off in America.
Unbeknown to him, it became very popular in South Africa.

Searching for Sugar Man, is the story of two South Africans and their search for this elusive singer.

Big is the surprise when we see a clip showing our own collections in the SABC Record Library and how censorship made it impossible for it to be played during the Apartheid years.
Luckily the short clip is available on YouTube.
(It is also available as a podcast on iTunes).


This is a documentary worth seeing!

Blog post by Karen du Toit.

A quick peek in the SABC Audio Restoration Section: I am holding...

Maryna Barnard is part of the SABC Audio Restoration Section, where she is the Data Administrator of SABC's restored and re-mastered material. She renders an unique service to clients with regards the re-mastering of CD labels and inlays.

At this moment she is working on a Southern-Sotho-Hymn recording,  called Soldiers of the Cross, conducted by B. Matshobane.

Related posts:

Audio Restoration prepared a recording of Nikola Petrovic, “My heart is a Violin”

Audio Restoration mastered and prepared "East is number one" with Dennis East as lead vocal

“Erogenous Botch Under Cover”

Transcription Record by Jill Richards (Piano) and Diane Coutts/Marietjie Scoonraad (Piano)

Audio Restoration 1

Blog post by Karen du Toit, SABC Radio Archives

A retrospective look at 33 years in the SABC Record Library

Thersia Francis, the Manager of the SABC Record Library, is leaving the SABC Media Libraries today to pursue other interests in life. She started as a woman assistant in the Record Library, and later became the Manager of the Record Library.


How long did you work for the SABC, and where did you start before you came to the Media Libraries?

I started in 1980, 33 years ago. I started in the Record Library.

What did it mean to you to work in the Record Library? 

That was a very big part of my life, and I have enjoyed every minute of it.

Did you meet interesting people, and who?

I have met a lot of bands, singers and artists. 
My highlight was being backstage with Jon Bon Jovi in their first concert in Johannesburg Athletics Stadium.

What do you remember about your time here?

99% was happiness in my job - to work with music and music related functions which I have enjoyed most.

What are your plans for the future?

For the near future; to relax and doing the things I never had time to do previously!


We wish you well, Thersia!


Related post:

Interview with the Manager of the SABC Record Library


Questions & blog post by Karen du Toit, SABC Radio Archives.

New Yamaha grand piano

By Suzette Lombard
Principal Music Librarian

Unfortunately even well-made pianos don’t last forever, and in 2012 the SABC Music Library had to say goodbye to one of our collection of pianos, of which the frame had cracked. 

Fortunately we were able to acquire a brand new Yamaha C5 grand piano to replace it.

Yamaha is the world’s largest manufacturers of musical instruments, and has been making pianos since 1897. This piano is a great example of the dedication, vast knowledge, skill and hard work that go into making a modern day concert standard piano. Not only does it have to have a good sound and excellent mechanical action to please even the most demanding pianist, but it also has to look beautiful and be strong and rugged, in order to withstand the constant moving and handling.
A combination of traditional craftsmanship and advanced acoustical technology has made this possible. 

We are looking forward to this beauty’s first performance. 


Photos taken last week Wednesday at the arrival of the new piano.

The Music Librarian looking on

Suzette Lombard

(Photos by Karen du Toit)

The Knowledge Café combined with a Drum Café

David Gurteen in action

David Gurteen facilitated an interactive Knowledge Café with the help of drums at the recent International Knowledge Management Conference (ICKM 2012).

It formed part of the opening proceedings, and helped conference delegates connect with each other during the speed networking session, as well as connection through the drumming.

Warren Liebermann with his drummers & singers

Warren Liebermann of Drum Café with his drummers provided an interactive experience for all which opened up the synergy and receptive mood of the conference.

Conference delegates with musical instruments

The question was asked about the format of teaching which has not changed for centuries, and the informal and interactive way of the Drum Café brought home the message even more.

"Is the lecture format of teaching an effective way of learning and sharing knowledge and if not, what is?"

Drum on a chair at ICKM 2012

The following four questions paved the way for the rest of the conference proceedings:

"At this conference, to what extend are you prepared:

1. to get value from being here?

2. to engage personally to achieve this?

3. to take risks to learn?

4. to take responsibility for the learning & engagement of others?"

ICKM 2012 Conference delegates

The success of a conference depends on each delegate's willingness to participate!

The combination of the drums facilitated the interactiveness of the Knowledge Café, and it created a wonderful synergy for the rest of the conference!


See blog post & video playlist by David Gurteen about the same event:
A wonderful combination of a Knowledge Café and a Drum Café


Blog post by Karen du Toit, conference delegate at ICKM 2012.

Interview with the new Junior Record Librarian at the SABC Record Library

Image Sibuyi is a new appointment at the SABC Media Libraries.

This is part of an ongoing series of blog posts to gain a better understanding of the SABC Record Library, as well as part of a series of blog posts about the SABC Media Libraries. The interviews are generating a better understanding of what we do in the different sections and breaking the silos between us.

The interview this week is with Image Sibuyi, a new Junior Record Librarian in the SABC Record Library, who started to work here on 14 May this year.

The Record Library houses all genres of recorded music. The music is regularly accessed by staff and made available to internal clients.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. (Where you grew up, where and what you studied and your work experience before you joined the SABC Record Library)

I was born and raised in Buckbuckridge (Mpumalanga) in the village of Cork Trust, near the town of Hazyview . I started school in 1994 at Mkhumbini Primary School and matriculated in 2005 at Dumisani High School. Due to financial reasons in 2006 I was unable to enroll in a tertiary institution. 
I went to the University of Limpopo, Turfloop Campus, in 2007 and enrolled for the Bachelor of commerce in Business Management and Human Resource Management which I successfully completed in 2009. 
In 2010 I enrolled for a Higher Diploma in information Studies (HDINF) which I completed the same year. 
During the academic year 2010, as part of a practicum course, I had to attend practicals for four weeks at the Library of my choice. I chose the SABC Media Library in Polokwane. Fortunately during my practicals I could apply for an internship at SABC Mpumalanga.  
 I was successfully appointed as a Record Librarian intern from 01 February 2011 until 31 March 2012. 
During my last week of internship I applied for the Junior Record Library post. I was successful in my application and started to work in May 2012.

Tell us more about your collection and the scope of material you need to preserve in the record library.

In the Record Library we believe that music or sound/s never die or expire. We preserve all kinds of physical CD music genres (House, Rock, RNB, Hip Hop, Classic, etc.), from old to the latest, of which are played by all of the SABC Radio Stations. 
Most importantly we require copyright information. 
We also keep mood music and sound effects which are used by radio and television personnel.

Please tell us about a normal day in your office. What music do you give priority to?

I do the capturing of music which requires the copyright information from SAMRO such as title, performer, record label, composer, and publisher, etc.  I liaise with the other SABC regions to avoid duplications. I also advise clients with regards the registering of copyright information and how to make it visible on the physical CD. I also help out at the front desk service with issuing and returning of CDs.

Do you struggle with technical difficulties, and if so, what?

The music industry is migrating to digital. The SABC  Record Library are facing challenges in terms of the recording companies who are cutting costs on sampling physical CDs for us, especially of the international music. 
Luckily we have a very reliable computerized library system.

Tell us why you enjoy doing the work that you do. 

First of all I love working for the one of the biggest Broadcast Corporations. It comes with pride and joy. 
Ever since I join the SABC I have developed an interest in music. The capturing of music entails listening to music before capturing, so I enjoy “dancing with my head” while doing my work. 
I also enjoy helping artists with the information of registering their music.


Related posts:

Interview with the Manager of the SABC Record Library

Interview with a Record Librarian at the SABC Record Library: Sound effects and moods music

Interview with Aaron Magoro at SABC Radio Archives

Interview with a Systems Administrator at the SABC Record Library



Questions and blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Musings in the Music Library #9 - Budgets

by Daniel Neal
Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library


A vignette from the music librarian.

O tempora, O mores!  What we could do if we only had more budget!  

Artscape is now saying they may “renovate” the Library.  Well, they mean the room it’s in.  Considered old, ugly, dissheveled and antiquated (all true), the general upgrade of the entire Artscape Theatre Complex has now noticed another problem to be solved.  Motive?  To make it look modern and impressive, mostly.  

So a budget begins a theoretical dance, beyond my reach; a budget that if given to me would have a very different outcome.  

Like, maybe a full or even part time assistant?  Or lots of new score and parts sets?  

At least I’ve accessed the atmosphere by getting fifty archive boxes with which to re-box all the ballet sets and further to that other outsized local creations (quasi A4 sized parts and scores with huge plastic comb binders…an interesting challenge to fit into any storage facility).  

And look, let’s admit it is wonderful to have real interest in improvements.  

There have been so many retrenchments and closures in the last 18 years that I can drop my suspicious nature for a moment and really be grateful. 

Related posts:

Musings in the Music Library - "Librarians are nice" 

Musings in the music library #7 - Librarian stereotypes

Musings in the Music Library #6 - Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library

Musings in the music library - "Librarians are nice"

by Daniel Neal
Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library

Another vignette from the music librarian.

I've got two relations who are very successful professional academic librarians.  They are very nice people.  The nicest person I knew at Eastman School of Music was the head of  Sibley Music Library.  The kid next door where I grew up became a big deal librarian in Indianapolis Public Library system.  He too is a very nice man.  

And every professional librarian I’ve had any communication since becoming Librarian of the CPO has been a very nice person.  

AND… they’re all very smart.  

Interesting that in the early 21st century being nice is almost a curse…certainly taken for a sign of weakness in our oh so competitive world.  

You can imagine the extremes of the Tea Party movement in US politics deriding librarians as blood sucking parasites embedded in the bloated bureaucracy of the civil service.  Generally I guess our reaction would be to smile and ask “and what can I do for you today?”  

What else would we say?  We’re, by nature, nice people!

Related posts:

Musings in the music library #7 - Librarian stereotypes

Musings in the music library #6 - Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library

Musings in the music library #5 - Copyright

Musings in the Music Library #6 - Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library

The last in a series of vignettes which were sent by a fellow librarian, Daniel Neal from the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library in a mail to the SABC Music Library and the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra Library.

"In the old days, orchestra libraries were there first and foremost to supply Their Orchestra with the materials required.  All other orchestras were viewed with deep suspicion and mistrust, and educational and amateur organizations with outright anathema.  

These deep feelings had practical roots beyond personal spites and jealousies: lost parts, horrible indelible markings and long term amnesia regarding return of material do not make life easy nor do they assist in looking after what is a very valuable investment.  

But times change, and the modern age in South Africa has now established a new attitude:  all these libraries were funded by public money and their collections should be open to all worthy users.  That has included the University orchestras and the few and valiant amateur orchestras, but the main benefactors from this Library have been the East Cape Phil in PE and the Free State Symphony in Bloemfontein,, occasional but professional institutions that don’t have libraries at all.  

The rental fee from this Library is unchanged from 20 years ago, and so the cost is within the budgets of our colleagues; without the Library’s assistance live orchestral performance would be even less frequent than it is."

Related posts:

Musings in the Music Library #5: Copyright 

Musings in the Music Library #4 - Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library


Musings in the Music Library #3 - Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library

Musings in the Music Library #2 - Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library 

Musings in the Music Library #1

Concert - Charl du Plessis Trio with Musa Sakupwanya

Suzette Lombard, Music Librarian
SABC Music Library

With everything in life the novelty eventually wears off. If you attend concerts or shows regularly, you find yourself attending a lot of events that are good and even exceptional, but still leave you fairly cold. But once in a while you might be fortunate enough to hear something that blows you away.

A case in point is the concert I attended last Sunday at the Linder Auditorium. The Johannesburg Musical Society presented a concert featuring the Charl du Plessis Trio with the vocalist Musa Sakupwanya. The all-Gershwin programme was beautifully planned and executed by four extremely talented and accomplished musicians.

To say that I loved it is an understatement. The trio played brilliantly, a wonderful blend of classically-trained polish and honest foot-stompin’ jazz. Charl with inimitable style performed a fiendish arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue in which he was the conductor, pianist and orchestra all rolled into one. Most numbers started with the piano, and with the bass and percussion joining in, one felt surrounded by a warm, luxurious blanket of pure sound. A sense of well-being and absolute enjoyment prevailed throughout.

Some gooseflesh-moments were had when Musa sang songs like S’Wonderful. Musa has the perfect jazz voice, all velvety smooth. But he also has the sense of timing and execution that a true artist needs to keep the audience spellbound, as he proved with Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off. Werner Spies on double bass and Hugo Radyn on drums were by no means left out of the limelight, their accompaniment and improvisations equally impressive.

The trio’s latest CD Shanghai Brunch has won a Ghoema Award and is nominated for a SAMA. When mentioning the CD, Charl spoke about the warmth and personality of the Steinway concert grand piano which he had hired from the SABC for the recording.

Sunday’s programme included favourites like Three Preludes, I Got Plenty O’Nuttin, Someone to Watch Over Me, and Summertime.  And I Got Rhythm. They certainly have!

Musings in the Music Library #5 - Copyright

Another vignette in a series that was sent by a fellow librarian, Daniel Neal from the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library in a mail to the SABC Music Library and the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra Library.

"Copyright is for the protection of the creator, an esoteric subdivision of legalities that makes Peace in the Middle East quite straightforward by comparison.  

As an introduction, South Africa and Canada recognize copyright as Death (of the creator, author, composer etc) plus Fifty years.  The European Union is now Death + 70, and the United States, in some applications and from certain dates, is Death + 90.  Even if you are a South African entity (like CPO) and you want to hire something out of copyright in South Africa for performance in South Africa, you may have to pay copyright because the Country of Origen of the Hired Material has a longer post-death law in place.  After this, it gets really complicated.  

For those audience members who despair at the relative lack of “modern” (that is, post 1930) music in concert programmes, I do ask that they judge CPO not too harshly.  

At time of writing the average fee for hiring copyright music is R300 per performance minute plus VAT plus Air Freight (usually from the UK), and that is just too expensive.  

Even if all the composers considered are long passed away, their publishing heirs can price their works right off the concert platform."

Related posts:

Musings in the Music Library #4

Musings in the Music Library #3

Musings in the Music Library #2

Musings in the Music Library #1

SABC Record Library - photo account of a Wednesday afternoon

SABC Record Library 

Acquisition in the SABC Music Library - Paiste crotales

The SABC Music Librarian, Suzette Lombard, of the SABC Music Library, wrote this short piece on the acquisition of Paiste Crotales in the music library:

The Music Library recently acquired a new set of 30 Paiste crotales, ranging from C6 (8va above middle C) to F8. These swiss-made music instruments are small, chromatically-tuned brass disks which have a clear and sustained, bell-like sound.

Crotales are also known as antique cymbals, as they have been used in some form or other since ancient times, often as smaller finger cymbals struck together by dancers. At present they are usually struck with hard mallets, or played with a bow, which produces an eerie sound similar to a glass-harmonica.


Composers such as Claude Debussy, Joseph Schwantner and Igor Stravinsky have used it to great effect in their compositions. In 1970, Karlheinz Stockhausen used it extensively in his composition Mantra, written for two ring-modulated pianos, wood blocks and two sets of specific crotales. In popular music, Mike Oldfield also uses crotales in Clear Light on his album Tubular Bells ll.

Musings in the Music Library #4 - Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library

Fellow librarian, Daniel Neal
- from the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library in a mail to the SABC Music Library and the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra Library:

"The standard title of where I work is the CPO Library, although this is for convenience.  What was the CTSO collection is owned by the Cape Orchestra Trust, and what was CAPAB’s still belongs to Artscape.  

The CTSO part is one of the oldest collections in South Africa, dating from 1913 the founding year of the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra, whereas CAPAB didn’t start their collection until 1971, when the Artscape building was finished.  But the antiquity of the CTSO collection is not just from purchases beginning from 1913.  

There are many score and parts sets that are much older; undocumented and impossible to ever discover their origins, I just speculate on how they ever got here. Even more, for some repertoire, why:  there are works here that never were popular enough to justify purchase.
 
My favorite to date are the Symphony no. 3 and the Cello Concerto of Joachim Raff, both unopened, unmarked and unplayed sets, first editions dating from around 1875.  

The stories of how and why they got from Berlin to Cape Town are long lost now, but nonetheless intriguing."    

Part of a series of posts.



Related posts:

Musings in the Music Library #1

Musings in the Music Library #2 - Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library

Musings in the Music Library #3 - Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Library