Johannes Helstone, born ''Nicodemus Johannes Helstone'' (11 January 1853 – 24 April 1927), was a Surinamese composer, pianist and writer. He is best known for his 1906 opera ''Het Pand der Goden''.

Biography

Helstone was born on the Moravian mission Berg en Dal on 11 January 1853 to Proserpina Ulm and Doris Nicolaas Helstone. He was born enslaved and was granted freedom at age ten, when the Dutch abolished slavery. He was named Nicodemus Johannes Helstone, but used the name Johannes or Johannes Nicolaas. At the age of 14, he was sent to

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

for a teaching degree. His musical talents were noted by Heinrich Williger, the head teacher, who arranged that he could continue his studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Leipzig. He followed piano theory and composition under Alfred Richter, the son of

Ernst Richter Ernst Friedrich Eduard Richter (24 October 18089 April 1879), was a German musical theorist and composer, born at Großschönau, Saxony. He first studied music at Zittau, and afterwards at Leipzig, where he attained so high a reputation that in ...

. In 1894, Helstone graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

. In 1891, he married Remiline ('Millie') Uckerman, a Surinamese sopranist and piano teacher. The couple divorced in 1899. Helstone received several offers to work abroad, but decided to return to Suriname. Musically, he was active as a composer, pianist, and organist. Professionally, Helstone was a teacher, and a church organist. In 1899, his unpublished compositions and two pianos were lost in a fire.

Musical career

In 1906, Helstone wrote the opera ''Het Pand der Goden''. It premiere was on 10 May 1906 in Paramaribo. The opera received positive reviews in Suriname. He translated the opera to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and toured Germany, France and Austria where the opera was well received. Helstone received several job offers which he declined. Other musical works include

psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of H ...

s, a

mazurka The Mazurka ( Polish: ''mazurek'') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character defined mostly by the prominent mazur's "strong accents unsystematically placed on the seco ...

brillante (1889), a

toccata Toccata (from Italian ''toccare'', literally, "to touch", with "toccata" being the action of touching) is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virt ...

, ''Prinses Juliana Mars'' (1903) in honour of the birth of

Princess Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She r ...

, ''Emancipatie Mars'' (1913) and many songs in Dutch and German.

Other work

In 1903, Helstone wrote a book about the grammar of

Sranan Tongo Sranan Tongo (Sranantongo, "Surinamese tongue", Sranan, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language from Suriname, in South America, where it is the first or second language for 519,600 Surinamese people (approximately 80% of the popu ...

, the English-based Creole spoken in Suriname. The book is slightly controversial, because Helstone encouraged the Creole population to learn

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

. In 1924 and 1925, Helstone wrote a five parts series about

proverb A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phrase ...

s in Sranan Tongo. The proverbs are translated in Dutch and German with the occasional equivalent proverb in English, French, or Latin. In 1921, Helstone was co-founder of the Herrnhutter-Comité, an organisation for the interests of the Moravian Church congregation.

Death

Helstone died on 24 April 1927 at the age of 74.

Legacy

In 1944, W.A. Leeuwin made a radio program about Helstone. The broadcast ended with the observation that there were no visible signs of his presence any more. In 1948, a monument was erected on the north-side of the

Centrumkerk Centrumkerk is a church of the Dutch Reformed Church of Suriname. It is located on Kerkplein in the Centrum, Paramaribo, centre of Paramaribo. It was the State religion, state church until independence of Suriname in 1975. The Centrumkerk is a mo ...

, because Helstone had been the organist of the church for many years. In 1959, Trefossa wrote ''

God zij met ons Suriname "" (; "God be with our Suriname"), or "" ("Rise, countrymen" in Sranan Tongo), is the national anthem of Suriname. It has two verses: the first in Dutch and the second in Sranan Tongo. History The original version of the anthem was written by C ...

'', a new national anthem for Suriname. Originally Trefossa used a melody by Helstone. The lyrics were accepted, however the national anthem uses the 1867 melody. In 2006, the art exhibition hall of the was named after Nicodemus Johannes Helstone. On 15 February 2024,

Otto Tausk Otto Tausk (born 1970 in Utrecht) is a Dutch conductor. Biography Tausk was a violin student of Viktor Liberman and István Párkányi. He studied conducting with Jurjen Hempel and Kenneth Montgomery. He continued his music studies with Jonas ...

conducted the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra u ...

in the Dutch premiere of ''Het Pand der Goden'' in collaboration with Capella Amsterdam. The initiative for this performance came from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and their correspondance with Helstone's great-grandniece Astrid Helstone: they wanted to perform the opera again and went in search of the score. This led them to John Helstone, the composer's great-nephew, who had the manuscripts of the Dutch and German versions of the opera in his possession. Composer and director Leonard Evers used these to create an adaptation suitable for the present day, using the Dutch version for the text and the German version for the music. A video recording of the performance was released online, in addition to audio recordings being made available on

Apple Music Classical Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Music 1 ...

and Spotify. Helstone's great-grandniece Astrid Helstone set up the Helstone Fund together with her husband Diederik Burgersdijk under the auspices of the Foundation Concertgebouworkest, with the aim of facilitating performances and research into the work of Johannes Helstone, his students, and other composers from former Dutch colonial territories. Durgersdijk also published a biography on Helstone in 2024, titled "''Een opera voor Suriname. Over'' Het pand der goden ''van J.N. Helstone''".

External links

Helstone: Het pand der goden
from Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Recording of ''Het Pand der Goden''. Video duration 1h 50m 24s.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Johannes Helstone at Digital Library for Dutch Literature
(mainly in Dutch) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Helstone, Johannes 1853 births 1927 deaths People from Brokopondo District Surinamese composers Surinamese educators Surinamese male writers Surinamese musicians University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni Writers in Sranan Tongo