The musical life of this city has reached a stage in its development that must make it apparent to all who are interested in the advancement of matters of art and education that if we are to continue the progress of the past few years and take our place as a city of any musical importance, the next and most necessary step is the founding of a Permanent Philadelphia Orchestra. Such an undertaking is one that requires serious consideration, and the co-operation not only of our music-loving public but of all citizens who are interested in our civic progress.

In order to establish an orchestra such as would be a distinct credit to the city, it is necessary to have a paid-up fund of not less than $250,000.

The following Committee, before issuing this circular, have given the matter great consideration, carefully looked into various organizations in other cities, and feel confident that if they meet with liberal response Philadelphia will have in a few years an orchestra second to none in America. When Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and other cities, not nearly so large or so wealthy, have established permanent orchestras, it is surely time that we should interest ourselves and unite in aiding to form an organization in keeping with our size and importance. This will not be possible with less than the sum before mentioned, which they trust you will aid them in securing upon the following terms and conditions:

1. Subscribers shall not be bound by their subscriptions unless the sum of $200,000 shall have been subscribed.

2. The fund shall be used only for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a permanent Philadelphia Orchestra, and it shall be applied for that purpose by the following Trustees:

C. William Bergner	C. Hartman Kuhn
John H. Converse	Simon A. Stern
Samuel A. Crozer	James F. Sullivan
George W. Childs Drexel	Thomas B. Wanamaker
Charles C. Harrison

or their successors. The discretion of such Trustees shall be absolute as regards the administration of the fund, and they shall have power to fill any vacancy occurring in their number, they having agreed to abide by the conditions herein stated.

The Trustees shall invest $200,000 of the fund, using only the interest thereof and the additional $50,000 shall be used for current expenses of the first few years, when the expenses will be heavier and the deficit greater.

3. The orchestra shall be composed, first, of the best musicians resident in Philadelphia; then, of the best musicians obtainable either in this country or abroad. In order to insure the success of the enterprise, it is absolutely necessary that the highest standard be maintained, that the reputation of the orchestra can be established in other cities beside our own, for it is not possible for an orchestra to become self-supporting that cannot command engagements outside the city to which it belongs.

4. The Board of Trustees, when it considers that the completion of the fund is assured, shall select the leader upon the careful and unbiased consideration of the merits and records of all candidates submitted to it. Such candidates, however, to be only men of the highest reputation either in Europe or America, and the leader one whose name will add to the prestige of the orchestra both here and in other cities.

5. The selection and placing of the musicians shall be made by the leader, subject to conditions in paragraph three.

6. As the subscribers contribute to the fund solely for the benevolent purpose of advancing the cause of music in Philadelphia and release all control over said fund, they shall not be considered as partners with each other, or with the Trustees in the conduct or management of said orchestra.

7. The Board of Trustees shall never exceed nine in number.

8. Subscribers to the permanent fund shall have choice of seats in advance of the general public for all Symphony Concerts.

The Committee earnestly requests all who are interested and who will aid them by subscribing to the Fund, to kindly give the matter their prompt attention, and send in any subscription or communication as soon as possible, for if the Orchestra is to be established by next season, it is necessary to push matters without delay.

“How to Get an Orchestra”

“It need not be difficult in Philadelphia to form as fine an orchestra as anybody is willing and able to pay for. A permanent orchestra is a very costly institution. It involves the permanent employment of anywhere from fifty to a hundred good musicians, at salaries sufficient to secure their constant and exclusive services as orchestra players throughout the active portion of the year. A simple calculation will show that the expense of this mounts quickly by tens of thousands.

“Even in a great city, with a very large public interested in orchestral music, it is scarcely possible to meet this expense by the receipts from local concerts. There is a limit to the number of concerts that can be prepared or that can find hearers in one place, so that a large fixed orchestra can hardly earn its living—unless in some great place of popular resort, like the Crystal Palace at London or the Trocadero at Paris. Boston, an exceptionally self-reliant metropolis, provides two full audiences a week for the symphony concerts in Music Hall for twenty-four weeks in the year, but it is known that this does not meet the expense of the orchestra. Experience furnishes no evidence of any such hunger for orchestral music among the general public of Philadelphia as would justify a reliance on its financial support for an orchestra of the class of that which private generosity has maintained at Boston and that has established a standard with which, as a business enterprise, it would be necessary to compete.

“Clearly, therefore, such an enterprise, if undertaken here, must be undertaken either in a missionary spirit by those who regard music as an elevating influence in the community, or for their own gratification, by those who wish for greater musical opportunities for themselves. In either case, or both, the promoters must expect to pay the piper. And this being the case, we should say that those who pay have an entire right to choose their piper—to organize their orchestra in their own way and put it in charge of whom they please.

“The discussion that has been going on recently upon this subject has run wide of the mark. It is not a question of the best way to organize an orchestra, but simply whether there is anybody ready to put up the money to have an orchestra at all. If there is not, the whole discussion is futile; if there is, we cannot see that the details concern anybody else. The rest of us can pay for our tickets and find fault, or we can let it alone, as we have done with so many excellent orchestra concerts, past and present. Something beside the purely musical appeal is required to attract an audience, very few of whom can know the actual difference between one band and another, except in size and in some of the more meretricious technical effects, and if this can be supplied by personal, social or fashionable interest and influence, there is that much gained.

“It is an old rule in Philadelphia, that when anybody undertakes to do anything, everybody else proposes a different way. This has always prevented the natural development of a local orchestra, and always will do so as long as the matter is open to public contention. The first essential to the establishment of a high-class orchestra is capital. If that is provided, the rest can be obtained, and those who provide it have the right to determine how to spend it, and the right also to command appreciation an support. Without this we can dispute till the cows come home with no more result than at any other time in the past forty years, during which time everybody has been agreed that Philadelphia should have such an orchestra, but no two agreed as to who should conduct it, or how it should be maintained.”

“A Philadelphia Orchestra”

“The movement which has long been on foot to establish a permanent symphony orchestra in this city, one which should from its inception challenge favorable comparison with any other orchestra in the United States, and one in which all who take an interest in music might feel a justifiable pride, has now taken such definite shape that its accomplishment is practically assured.

“A perusal of the prospectus of the Philadelphia Permanent Orchestra which was issued yesterday by the committee who have piloted the undertaking into its present haven, an which will be found published in full on another page, shows that a paid-up fund of $250,000 is necessary for the work in hand. All who are interested in the civic progress of the city, an those in particular who are interested in music, are invited to contribute to the fund.

“The details of the scheme speak for themselves, but the pith of the understanding is that $200,000 of the fund shall be permanently invested and the interest used for the advancement of the orchestra, while the $50,000 cash balance is to be devoted to the current expenses of the first few years. Preference is to be given to musicians resident in Philadelphia, and the Board of Trustees is to select the leader from conductors of acknowledged reputation at home or abroad.

“That such an institution will be of great and permanent value to the city, there can be no possible doubt. A symphony orchestra of the calibre proposed is as essential to the musical taste of the rising generation as a well endowed public library is to their literary education. Without an acknowledged standard to judge by, musical taste and musical judgment become chaotic, and degenerate by feeding without discrimination on what is inferior.

“That such an organization will draw full houses, those who have seen the Academy packed to the ceiling at every concert given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra will not doubt, an the fact that Philadelphia has enabled a grand opera company of the first magnitude to give an extended season here with a large margin of profit for the past two years, is another demonstration of the existence of a large musical public. It must be admitted that the musical public of Philadelphia is peculiar in some respects; it has a rooted antipathy to mediocrity and an invincible dislike of being managed from New York. But the public know what they want. They have long wanted an orchestra—a real orchestra—of their own. Various obstacles have cropped up from time to time in the way, but the last one—the war with Spain—no longer exists; the way has been cleared and the time is ripe for the accomplishment of its desire.

“The names of the committee who will direct the affairs of the orchestra are substantial guarantees of an able, impartial and business-like administration of its affairs, and the names of those who have endorsed it financially, a list that will be double and trebled in a few days, are certain indications that the orchestra will shortly be an accomplished fact.”