Young Helstone’s musical talent was soon discovered after he was sent to Paramaribo at 14, where he received his first music lessons. He was sent to Europe to broaden his musical horizons, which paid off: on his second visit to Germany in 1893, he was admitted to the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig.
After graduation, he forsook a promising European music career to return to Suriname and invest in the music climate there. Here, among other things, he produced his masterpiece Het pand der goden, which was received with great acclaim in Paramaribo, and later in Berlin.
About Het pand der goden
The manuscripts of Het pand der goden find their way to second cousin John Helstone (1944-2023), deputy concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Working closely with John, Leonard Evers edited the Surinamese and German primal texts note for note, resulting in a performance edition based on both editions. Whereas Helstone had a full romantic orchestra at his disposal in Germany, for example, the Surinamese score featured considerably fewer instruments. In the performance edition heard at The Concertgebouw, dynamics, tempo indications and phrasing have been added to bridge the differences in composition and text between the two scores.
