Johannes Nicolaas Helstone

Johannes Helstone

Johannes Nicolaas Helstone , also Nicodemus Johannes Helstone (born January 11, 1853 in Berg en Dal , Suriname , † April 24, 1927 in Paramaribo ) was a Surinamese pianist, organist, conductor and composer.

Life

youth

When Nicolaas was baptized on February 28, 1857 on the Berg en Dal plantation, Brother Johann Gottfried Menze from the Evangelical Broedergemeente (EBG) gave him the name Johannes. With the abolition of slavery in Suriname on July 1, 1863, he was included in the civil register of the emancipated by changing his first name and assigning a surname as Nicodemus Johannes Ulm . When his mother Josefina Proserphina Ulm married Dorns Nicolaas Helstone on April 15, 1872, he was recognized by his mother's husband as his son and thus legitimized as Nicodemus Johannes Helstone. In later publications he is mentioned alternately with the first names from the church and citizen registers.

Apprenticeship, studies in Leipzig

After his musical talent had already been recognized and promoted in the boarding school of the EBG Central School in Paramaribo, Helstone was later given the opportunity to study twice for one year each (1880-1881 and 1893-1894) at the Conservatory in Leipzig . On July 1, 1894, he graduated from the Musikhochschule, Mendelssohn Academy Leipzig cum laude .

Loss by fire

When, on January 25, 1899, a block on the corner of Waterkant / Heiligenweg in Paramaribo went up in flames, Helstone was also affected. In the fire, he lost all of his inventory, including some manuscripts of his musical compositions and his two pianos . He was so shaken by the loss that he followed his doctor's advice and made his third trip to Europe to recover.

Works, music school

Helstone composed works for choir, piano, organ and orchestra; u. a. a great musical drama under the title Het pand der goden (1906) with its own scenario. On the occasion of his fourth and last trip to Germany in 1907, his magnum opus Het pand der goden (House of the Gods) was performed in Berlin with the text he had translated into German.

In 1908 he was the co-founder and director of the music school in Paramaribo. His students included u. a. Dario Saavedra (pseudonym of Daan Samuels), who also graduated from the Musikhochschule in Leipzig, Flora Samuels, Cor Anijs, Josephine Nassy, ​​Anton Plet and Esseline Polanen. He also wrote a grammar for Sranantongo and an essayistic work on music.

Honors

Helstone Monument

In honor of the musician and composer Helstone, a memorial was unveiled on January 11, 1948 on the Kerkplein in Paramaribo, in the immediate vicinity of the Church of the Reformed Congregation. It was designed and executed by Charles Nieleveld. Domestic granite was mainly used as the material. The main motif of the monument consists of the two letters H and M, in which the initials Helstone Musikus - or Helstone Monument - are reflected, as well as a musical note below. The unveiling took place with great public sympathy.

Paramaribo Folk Music School

On March 14, 2015, the art gallery of the National People's Music School in Paramaribo was named Nicodemus Johannes Helstone Kunsthal on the occasion of the celebration of the school's founding on March 2, 2006 .

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  Helstone Monument in Paramaribo

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  Inscription Helstone Monument

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  De National Volksmuziekschool

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  Grave with tombstone

Tomb

Johannes Nicolaas Helstone was buried in the Oud Cemetery , Vrede en Arbeid in Paramaribo. The tombstone shown here was donated by the Surinamese people. The text is translated: "In memory of the musician JN Helstone Jan. 11, 1853 - Apr. 27, 1927 by the people of Suriname". The date of death engraved here is incorrect. In fact, he died on Sunday, April 24th, 1927.

literature

• CFA Bruijning and J. Voorhoeve (red.): Encyclopedie van Suriname , Elsevier , Amsterdam a. Brussel 1977, ISBN 90-10-01842-3 , p. 271.
• Heinrich Helstone: Chronologie van Berg en Dal, 1996 . EBG archive Paramaribo.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Apintie vidioclip 3:36 Dutch, accessed April 2, 2015