Page 14 - Cape-Camera-October-2023

Cape Camera October 2023

Sibyl, the prominent musician, remembered

While CTPS members remember Sibyl Morris as a photographer, to the music world she
was known as Sibyl Whiteman, the prominent South African concert pianist. When not
performing with city orchestras, she was an FMR presenter and music teacher.

Sibyl grew up in a house filled with music as her moth- Sona Whiteman would mention her daughter from time
er, Sona Whiteman, was a prominent Cape Town piano to time, and for me, a youngster not yet ten, this young
teacher, and her mathematics-professor father, Michael, lady and her musical achievements in Europe loomed
also played the piano. Both her parents taught her until large in my imagination. I was surprised then, when in-
she made her professional debut with the Cape Town Mu- troduced to Sibyl a few years later, to discover how phys-
nicipal Orchestra at the age of 17 and moved overseas. ically small she was.
She studied at London’s Royal Academy of Music and “That imbalance did not last long, because I soon heard
then under Professor Jaap Spaanderman at the Muz- her perform works privately and in public, and the mu-
ieklyceum in Amsterdam. She also gave broadcasts and sic of Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt created a universe of
public recitals in the Netherlands and Germany. Back sounds that were in sharp contrast to the petite figure of
in South Africa, she was a senior lecturer in the Depart- the pianist conjuring them up.
ment of Music at UPE, before returning to Cape Town. “While Sona Whiteman was my first formal teacher, Sibyl
She performed with the city orchestra, completed her was an informal one, on and off, for well over fifty years.
MMus at UCT and became a well-
known music teacher. I invariably wanted to play her
my current programme when-
Her music featured prominently ever the opportunity arose. This
in tributes at her memorial. was a little brave on my part,
Alison Gray, a cousin from Eng- because, particularly earlier on,
land: “I sat next to my mother, I found her presence as a listen-
Norah, on the settee in our North er somewhat intimidating. In
London house, in rapt silence, fact, as an audience, she and her
watching and listening as Sibyl’s mother together were a force to
small hands flew over the keys be reckoned with!
of our upright piano with such “While Sibyl could be critical of
lightness, rapidity and power. It
was like magic. Over the days my technical points, or of interpreta-
mother made several recordings tions she sometimes disagreed
(which I still have) on our Grundig with, she was always encourag-
reel-to-reel tape recorder. This ing in her comments, and I feel
must have been when she was at that, over the decades, she was a
the Royal Academy of Music (this loyal supporter of my work.
was about 1956, when Sibyl was 19). I was fascinated by “Sibyl had a wide appreciation of, and sensibility for, art
her South African accent. and literature. She had an ever-increasing range of musi-
“Obviously, it is for her music that Sibyl will be best re- cal knowledge that extended well beyond piano reper-
membered. She must have given so much pleasure, and toire to chamber, symphonic and choral works. She par-
inspiration, to so many people over the years with her ticularly loved opera and surprised me on one occasion
recitals and broadcasts. Many mornings I play her dou- with her knowledge of lesser-known Italian operatic
ble CD, Memories, which she posted to me. It is a delight. composers.
She had so much she still intended to do, working hard “Sibyl knew that I shared with her father a belief in rein-
for her organ diploma. I’m sure she would have liked a carnation and rebirth. Once, when playfully berating me
little longer than she was given.” for composing piano pieces that required large hands
Sybil van der Linden Perks, a long-time friend: “It was with a wide stretch, she said she hoped that if there was
always so special to be invited to Sibyl’s pre-concert a ‘next life’ she would be born with bigger hands so that
private run-throughs in the music room with her father a certain repertoire might not be so exacting.
playing the orchestral part on second piano. And then “Well, small hands or not, Sibyl nevertheless in this life
to revel in the real performances and feel the pride for achieved a remarkable and consistent degree of con-
knowing her as one of our own. summate keyboard excellence, as her various memora-
Pianist and composer David Earl titled his tribute a fel- ble recordings testify. She remained devoted to her art,
low musician’s appreciation: “I first heard about Sibyl dur- and to the idea of music being a source of meaning and
ing my piano lessons with her mother in the late 1950s. beauty in the world.”
14 Cape Town Photographic Society