The timeline provides an overview of important events in the (working) life of Majoie Hajary in 96 windows. The timeline is not yet finished and will be updated continuously. Additions are welcome. On the map the countries where she lived, worked and found inspiration.
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Majoie Hajary's ancestors were enslaved and indentured persons from Africa, China and India. They entered Suriname by ship at Braamspunt. Until 1954 Surinam was a colony of the Netherlands, in that year it obtained internal autonomy. In 1975, after about 300 years of colonial repression, Surinam became an independent republic. Source: map from the Royal Library in The Hague. Lithogr. P. Lauters, text P.J. Benoit.
Marie Majoie (nickname Rieke, later Majoie) is born in 1921 in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. She is the eldest daughter of Harry Najaralie Hajary (1892-1959) and Philippintje (Mien) Wilhelmina Albertina Tjong-Ayong (1896-1976). The music of her Afro-Surinamese, Hindustani and Chinese ancestors is a source of inspiration for her later compositions. See the Family tree.
Her parents belong to the elite of Suriname. Father Harry started in 1907 as a helper at the Immigration Office of the Dutch Government. Her mother Mien worked there as a clerk until May 1921. In 1948 Harry became a member of the Board of General Government, the predecessor of the later Surinam Council of Ministers, with Social Affairs, Immigration and Public Health in its portfolio.
Rieke grows up in prosperity. She lives with her parents and sisters Eleonoor Caroline (Toetie) (1923-1990) and Henriette Annie (Jetty) (1928) in Paramaribo, first on Keizerstraat, later on the Hofstraat. The family is musical and creative. Her mother takes photographs, does carpentry, arranges flowers, bakes, is skilful with needle and thread and gives courses in wicker weaving. Her father plays the violin. Rieke gets a piano when she is 8 years old, she receives piano lessons from the 'soeurs' (nuns) in the Gravenstraat. Music education focuses on western classical music. Photo from the family album of Carry-Ann Tjong-Ayong, from left to right Toetie, Jetty and Rieke (Majoie). Behind them her parents.
Rieke (Majoie) regularly sends contributions to the youth magazine Zonneschijn (Sunshine). This letter, a blueprint for a mini theatre, illustrates her penchant for spectacle. Films and children's shows the sisters see in Paramaribo are re-enacted at home. Rieke on the piano as a pace-setter. Toetie later took up the stage, Jetty, like her older sister, became a pianist.
From left to right: Toetie, Jetty and Rieke (Majoie).
Photo from the family album of Carry-Ann Tjong-Ayong (cousin of Rieke Hajary). Rieke (Majoie) is missing here. Presumably, she is already in the Netherlands at that time. She cherishes the bond with her family members, some of whom will leave for Europe just as she did. They play a role in her musical live.
Granny Carootje (also in the group photo above) lives near her granddaughter Rieke in a small wooden house on the Keizerstraat. She is a devout member of the Evangelical Brotherhood. Rieke, later named Majoie, bases the text of the oratorio 'Da Pinawikie', the Passion Week, on the Surinamese bible of her grandmother. One of the official names of Carootje (see Familytree) is Batseba. This biblical name appears in the opera 'La larme d'or' ('The golden tear'), on which Majoie will work from the end of the 1980's. Photo from the archive of Carry-Ann Tjong-Ayong.
When she is a little more advanced, Rieke takes lessons from pianist Elly Fernandes-Benjamins. Her first compositions, such as 'Romanze' and 'Dance of the fairies at midnight', are written when she is fourteen years old. See DATABASE
'Dance of the fairies at midnight', composed at 'ten past one in the afternoon of 2 April 1936'.
Theatre companies from the Netherlands often visit the colonies. In 1934, the Amsterdam acting couple Elly van Stekelenburg and Jan Mulder hear Rieke play the piano during their theatre tour. They tell her parents, with whom they become friends, to be impressed by her playing. In September 1936 Rieke graduates from secondary school. A future in music is obvious.
Photo Arch. Gooi & Vechtstreek, coll. Elly van Stekelenburg: the theatre company with on the right Elly Fernandes, next to her Elly van Stekelenburg, second from the left Majoie armed with actor Jan Mulder in social club The Park, Paramaribo.
Before Majoie leaves for the Netherlands, the Russian cellist Bogumil Sykora gives a few concerts in Paramaribo in February 1937, with Elly Fernandes-Benjamins on the grand piano. The Big Symphony Orchestra led by conductor Eddy Wessels accompanies him with the piece 'Kol Nidrei' for cello and orchestra by the composer Max Bruch, 'Miss' Hajary plays piano in other pieces where the orchestra accompanies the cellist. On the right in the photo Elly Fernandes, on the left Rieke, probably in 1939.
Elly Fernandes prepared Rieke for the Amsterdam conservatory, where she herself studied. On 5 May 1937 director Willem Andriessen writes that Rieke may do entrance exam. Rieke, - from now on Majoie - , moves in with the acting couple Mulder/ Van Stekelenburg in Amsterdam, whom she considers her foster parents. The Surinam newspaper De West reports on 23 June 1937 that she has passed her entrance examination. At the conservatory she is taught by Nelly Wagenaar (piano), Willem Andriessen (piano), among others. Caption with photo: 'To Rieke's parents from Majoie's foster parents, September 1937'.
June 1938, Majoie went on holiday to Germany with her Dutch foster parents Jan Mulder and Elly van Stekelenburg. Jan Mulder has just joined the NSB in the Netherlands in May 1938. De NSB sympathizes with Hitler's NSDAP. He made his wife Elly a member in July 1940.
Aeroplanes are a common thread in her life. Here the three of them in a cardboard aeroplane: photoshop avant la lettre. The foster parents try to keep their daughter on board. Archive Elly van Stekelenburg, Regional Historical Centre Vecht and Venen.
During her studies Majoie already performs as a soloist. In May 1939 she plays Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto with the Symphony Orchestra 'Haerlem' conducted by Willem Rettich. The daily newspaper Haarlems Dagblad of 10 May 1939 praises her "pronounced soloistic qualities", also criticises her, but concludes that with "more maturity" this pianist "can certainly be expected to perform very well".
From the end of 1938 to the beginning of 1939 Majoie's mother is in the Netherlands. Here on the photo at Dam square in Amsterdam, together with Majoie and foster father Jan Mulder. In July 1939 Majoie briefly returns to Suriname. On 20 July she gives a recital and performs 'Vrolijke muziek' on the A.V.R.O.S. radio. On 3 August she performs her own composition 'Tarantella' alongside Chopin, Brahms and Rachmaninoff. This may have been part of her 'ACV-Revue'. See also the DATABASE
The Surinamese newspapers closely follow her activities abroad. De Surinamer of 6 January reports that Majoie Hajary will perform on 17 January 1940 for the Philips Omroep Hollands-Indië. The broadcasting company focuses on the colonies, especially on the Dutch East Indies.
Majoie also works for the radio in Hilversum. Prior to the German invasion on 10 May, her 'Liedje van verlangen' can be heard on 18 March 1940 in Jetty Cantor's programme broadcasted by the AVRO. Under the German occupation, orchestras in the Netherlands are not allowed to program Jewish composers, Jewish conservatory teachers are fired. In anticipation of the measures, the AVRO dismisses Cantor who is Jewish in May 1940. When in March 1941 the broadcasting companies merge into one Algemeene Nederlandsche Omroep, that is the policy. Music by Jewish composers and music in English are taboo. In May 1941, Jewish orchestra musicians are sacked. The deportation of Jews starts at the end of that year. Photograph cover book Dick Verkijk Radio Hilversum 1940-1945
For most non-Jewish musicians not much changes in 1941 (yet). In the garden of 'Schinkelhaven' on the Amstelveenseweg, conservatory students including Majoie provide the musical framework for the art exhibition 'Typisch Holland'. Majoie plays 'Romanian Dances' by Bartok and 'Prelude in G-sharp' by Rachmaninov. Het Algemeen Handelsblad of 19 June 1941 writes: '...the young Indian Majoie Hajary made herself known as a promising pianist'.
Majoie participates in the programme for toddlers of the Nederlandsche Omroep: 'Kleuterliedjes- en Melodietjes'. It is under the supervision of Jet Corbelli, an acquaintance of her foster mother Elly van Stekelenburg. Jan Mulder contributes to radio plays for the same broadcasting company. On 12 November 1941 Majoie will register her compositions and texts wit the copyright office Buma/Stemra, such as 'Seven songs after famous fairy tales' and 'Regenprinses'. See DATABASE. Still from the Youtube film Beeld en Geluid Kleuterklas Tante Jet (1942).
On 8 December 1941, Majoie performs a sonata by Joh. Brahms for the 'Serious Music' department. Shortly before that, the Nederlandse Kultuurkamer (NKK) is founded. The NKK comes into effect at the beginning of 1942. Artists has to register and fill in an Aryan declaration, which asks about their Jewish ancestry. In December 1942, Majoie received a 'provisional' permit to perform. 'Degenerate' music (art by Jewish artists, atonal music, black music genres such as jazz, blues and gospel) is forbidden. Jews are excluded from the NKK. Logo Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer
'Zonnestraaltjes' on texts by Margot Vos is published at the end of 1941 by Broekmans & Van Poppel in Amsterdam: children's songs arranged for the Nederlandsche Omroep. The Dutch magazine De Tijd of 4 February 1942 rejoices: 'A promising debut. (...). Harmonically they are sensitive and captivating, rhythmically very lively and they betray many a witty "point". (...) The coloured illustrations of the book - also by Majoie Hajary - are funny. In Suriname Majoie received drawing lessons from J.C. Booms and Wim Bosch-Verschuur.
Majoie performs Liszt's 1st piano concerto in the series Volksconcerten in 1942 and 1943 all over the country, assisted by the Groninger Orkest Vereniging, the Arnhemsche Orkest and the Residentie-Orkest respectively. The Nieuwsblad van het Noorden (25 February 1942) praises Majoie's 'extraordinary spirit and mind-blowing performance'. The Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlanden of 27 August 1943 is surprised by the ability of the Paramaribo-born daughter of Hindustani, British-Indian parents to empathise. The newspaper suspects that she is the representative of an ancient Indian folk who is greatly admired by the Nazis.
Meanwhile, on 15 June 1942, Majoie 'passed' her final exams for piano. She is sitting - dressed in sari - amidst her piano teachers Nelly Wagenaar (right) and Willem Andriessen (left), Willem was also the director of the Conservatory . In the newspapers of that time she is often referred to - see above - as the 'Britsch-Indische', 'Indische' Majoie or the 'Hindustani' from Surinam with Indian ancestors. This photo (cropped) was probably taken at the graduation ceremony.
The whole photo, which was thus presumably taken at the graduation ceremony. On the back Majoie has scribbled a few names, obviously those of her teachers Elly Wagenaar and Willem Andriessen and also that of her foster father Jan Mulder (front left). See also FORUM.
Ph. Vereenigde fotobureaux Amsterdam
18 September 1942 Majoie plays her own compositions at the 2nd Radio Music Festival of the Nederlandsche Omroep: 'Sonata for recorder and piano' (1942), 'Prelude', 'Tarantella' (1939) and 'De dochters van Altoen Chaan, de zonen van Altoen Chaan'. This suite for piano and flute (May 1940) is dedicated to the flutist Paul Loewer. In the one section 'Fatimah', the theme of her later 'Blue raga' ['La larme d'or'] can be recognised. In the Luistergids Theo Uden Masman and his 'dance orchestra' are also announced: formerly the jazz formation 'The Ramblers'. English names are forbidden, Masman's music is stripped of jazz elements. Black musical styles are taboo, but still Surinamese, black jazz musicians like Kid Dynamite perform until 1943. The cover illustration is by Majoie.
Majoie is allowed to continue performing. In 1943, A. de Wal writes in Het Vaderland, staat- en letterkundig nieuwsblad of 9 November, that during the war he never heard anything so 'important and promising'. Especially her own compositions attract his attention: a 'Prelude', 'Tarantella', 'Intermezzo' and 'Rhapsody'. The whole is a conglomeration of Asian and various European influences. The musical blood that flows here, from Chopin, from Liszt, from Spanish and Hungarian Gypsy Rhythm characters, from Mac Dowell, from jazz, from homegrown and Negro idioms. But as a whole an original mixtum compositum that is extraordinarily well put together, beautifully pianistic and very colourful and spontaneous.' Photo: recording for the press in The Netherlands, broadcasting studio Hilversum, 1943
On 10 November 1943, her composition for piano and orchestra, 'Hindustani Fantasy', is performed for the first time by the Arnhemsche Concertvereniging (Arnhem Concert Society) conducted by Jaap Spaanderman. This is followed by concerts in Venlo, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Den Bosch and finally in Amsterdam with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw conducted by Jan Koetsier. On 17 May 1944, she is a guest at the Hilversum broadcasting company. On 13 December 1943, the Limburgerkoerier judges: 'In a clever way, the danger of a hybrid, a two-track character has been avoided, where the Hindustani harmonies pass into our own. But Herman Rutters of the Algemeen Handelsblad (26 May 1944) mainly hears Debussy, Chopin, Liszt and Tchaikofsky [sic], '(...) which elements, as it seems to me, do not exactly have a Hindustani allure (...).'
In 1943 and 1944, at the invitation of the Austrian impresario Winderstein, Majoie toured through occupied territory: Austria (Salzburg, Vienna), the Czech Republic (Prague), Poland (Warsaw, Breslau), Hungary (Budapest) and Germany (Berlin, Hamburg). In June 1943, at the request of the conductor of the Berliner Philarmoniker Willem Fürtwängler, she came to Berlin. She is staying there with the family of the writer and painter Hans Siebert von Heister. In this period she composes the 'Serenade', which will be performed several times later. See DATABASE. In the summer of 1943, she is also a guest at the Bayreuther Festspiele in Germany, where Richard Wagner's operas are performed.
In January 1944, Majoie returns to the Netherlands. In Hilversum she meets members of the propaganda station Azad Hind Radio, to whom she had previously given an interview in Berlin. Leader of the Azad Hind movement is Subhas Chandra Bose, who, in order to achieve his goal of an independent India, concluded a pact with Hitler. His Freies Indien Legion fights on the side of the Nazis. After the war, Majoie is questioned about this period. She declares that she had only made music, but had never been politically active, and after questioning by the Dutch judiciary and police in 1945 and 1949, she is 'unconditionally' excluded from prosecution. Postage stamp with the emblem of Azad Hind.
In 1946, Majoie moves to Caracas in Venezuela, where she will stay for several years. From there she travels the region. In Caracas she composes piano music to a text by Helle von Heister: 'Sommernacht'. Helle von Heister was married to the writer and painter Hans-Sibert von Heister, with whom Majoie found accommodation in Berlin during the war. Wanderer' was composed at the same time. See DATABASE.
Majoie is in contact with Anton Schubel, director of the Associated (Metrolopolitan) Concert Bureau. She sends him a programme proposal, to which Schubel responds enthusiastically. The Surinamese paper De West of 4 November 1946 writes that Majoie's composition 'Ballet Hindu' will will have its premiere in New York in January 1947 in the famous Carnegie Hall. If she really performs there is not clear.
Majoie is in Oranjestad (Aruba) and Willemstad (Curacao) in the months of September, October and November 1946. She plays works by Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Bartok and Albeniz. Her recently completed 'Ballet Hindu' for orchestra and ballet will also be performed here. SEE DATABASE.
Applause...
She has no complaints about media attention. Here she is talking to the press on Curacao. Possibly journalists from Beurs- en nieuwberichten and Amigoe di Curacao. Beursberichten writes about her performance: 'Majoie Hajary plays as she is: gracious and graceful, sometimes impetuous, sometimes in control, almost majestic'. The remarks of pianist and critic Ton Deun, who worked at the Curacao conservatory, that Majoie 'did not play with feeling and had no technique' caused some commotion, but were vehemently refuted in De West of 8 November 1946 and in Amigoe di Curacao of 18 November 1946.
Meanwhile, Majoie has landed in Suriname. On 6 November 1946 she plays in the building of the City Mission in Paramaribo. Het Nieuws of 5 November 1946 praises her 'fabulous' technique that shows 'the most refined playing', but is sometimes 'too hasty'. About her new composition, 'Ballet Hindu', the newspaper notes: 'Typically Hindostaansch it could not appear to us'. However, De Surinamer of 7 November 1946 writes: 'In Ballet Hindu (...) we heard passages from Hindustani music that will not have sounded strange to some of the people in the audience.' Ph. Majoie at the airport.
In July 1948 she is again visiting Suriname. In Nickerie she gives a houseconcert at the residence of the District Commissioner: Hindustani music for a predominantly Hindustani audience. De West of 28 July 1948 notes: 'For each part of the "Ballet Hindu" the pianist gave an explanation in both Dutch and Hindustani. Although the original Oriental melodies sounded strange to us, here and there they were alternated with Western music, which sounded familiar to us.' The recital in Paramaribo is dominated by (Western) Romanticism: Schumann, Chopin and Liszt. Het Nieuws of 7 August 1948 lauds her 'unusual gifts'.
In that period she composes 'Peroen, peroen, mi patron...', later also called 'Variations on a Surinamese folk song' or 'Surinamese rhapsody'. It is based on a mockery song by the enslaved. It becomes very popular with the Surinamese public. Het Nieuws of 3 September 1948 is lyrical: 'The at times witty arrangement, despite the austere lines that characterise her compositions, received an acclaim and a verdict that could only prove that at least this audience is not exclusively open to the romantic school.' She dedicates this song to the governor Huender. It is said to have earned her a scholarship to Paris. Handwriting Majoie.
At the beginning of November 1948 Majoie travels to Suriname's neighbour British Guiana, where her latest composition 'Variations on a Surinam song' is also part of the programme. Back in Suriname she gives another concert for the youth. A house-father wrote poetically in a letter to the editor of Het Nieuws of 15 November 1948 '... how there on the stage, under the faint light of top lamps, against a moody black background, the slender fairy in olive-green robe with rapid finger movements sweetly let the piano hum, sing, wriggle, whatever she wanted...'. Such music, according to the house-father, certainly helps 'the refinement of Surinam's youth, the bourgeoisie of tomorrow'.
In 1949, the Surinamese newspaper De West of 27 May reports that Majoie is engaged to J. Heerooms, vice president of the Dutch bank in Caracas (Venezuela). He buys her a beautiful grand piano: a Steinway.
She holds several concerts in Venezuela. Here is a poster of the Baralt Theatre in Maracaibo, where the 'Pianista Hindu', besides her usual repertoire - Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and Albeniz - also performs the 'Danca Hindu'.
In June 1949 Majoie is back in Amsterdam. At that time she left for South America without waiting for the verdict on her performances during the war. She is interrogated by the authorities and declares to have performed for civilians but never for the Nazis, and not to have given any political interviews. Not even to the propaganda station Radio Azad Hind. She also notes that India has been independent since 1947. Majoie says she will go to Paris to study, which concludes the case. Her foster parents, NSB members, were both forbidden to play.
This photo is from August 1949, Majoie is sitting on an Amsterdam terrace with her sister Jetty (left) who is studying at the conservatory.
She moves to Paris. On the back of the photo of her appartement she writes to her family: 'This is a rather poor old photo, of the studio where I live together with Madame Chauvière's sister. Yet it gives you a small idea of where and how I live. Majoie, Paris 1949.' At Paris she studies composition with Nadia Boulanger, Henri Busser and Louis Albert, counterpoint and solfège with Annette Dieudonné and piano with Yves Nat.
Majoie's workbook for the solfège lessons with Annette Dieudonné: Nadia Boulanger's right-hand woman. Majoie writes in her workbook: 'Mademoiselle Dieudonné je vous aime.' Later, Dieudonné writes a recommendation in 'L'art du Piano', Majoie's self-published textbook of solfège and harmony exercises in 1989. See DATABASE.
Airoplanes (real and board) are, as mentioned, a theme in her life. In December, Majoie visits the Aviation Museum in Paris, together with Mrs Chauvière (centre on photo) and sister Jetty (right).
On the back of this photo to her parents she writes: 'Don't you think I have the same face as Paake [her father Harry] when he thinks'. According to her letter, the photograph is taken during the 25th anniversary of the Cité Universitaire (C.U.) in Paris on 2 July 1950. The CU is a campus for international students and has several 'houses'. Majoie writes on the photograph: CU [house] 12. It is not clear what she means by that.
Majoie becomes friends with the pianist Alicia de Larrocha, with whom she corresponds regularly. She composes 'Sonata for Alicia'. On 15 July 1950 she writes from Paris to Alicia, then living in Barcelona: 'I am glad you like my sonata!' A part of that sonata played by Alicia de Larrocha can be listened to via the site of Arxiu Alicia de Larrocha. See DATABASE and www.fondo.aliciadelarrocha.com
Photograph for the family in Paramaribo with caption: 'Here is Majoie, the Ambassador Sir Mallik and the young painter Krishna Hebbar at the exhibition of Krishna in the Galérie Licorne [sic]. Paris 1950 Majoie.'
Sardar Hardit Singh Malik is India's ambassador to Paris during the period of decolonisation of the French territories in India in the early 1950s. The 'young painter' Krishna Hebbar is 10 years older than Majoie. A kindred spirit: he combines Indian traditional art with Western techniques. (c) Agence Photographique Keystone, Paris
The engagement to Jan Heerooms apparently ended, because in 1951 Majoie marries Roland Garros (1924-1983), nephew of aviation pioneer Roland Garros, in a private ceremony at Notre-Dame de Grace de Passy in Paris. Present are her sister Jetty and Jan Mulder, whom she gives the nickname Joeps. Roland becomes director of several foreign branches of Air France, where Majoie will pick up musical inspiration. She dedicates several compositions to him: 'Album pour Moustache' and 'Serenade'. She has both works registered in 1955. Through her marriage, she acquires French nationality. (After her divorce, she opts for Dutch citizenship again in 1972.)
1951 Sita Caroline Germaine Marie (left) is born. For Sita she composes 'Pièces enfantines' for piano. Three years later, in 1954, Sébastien Xavier Jean Roland follows. She later dedicates her composition 'Variations 87 x 1' for piano, tablas and percussion to him (1976). Ph. Dr. Astier
De Surinamer, newspaper of 23 June 1953, announces that Majoie is coming to Suriname, Venezuela and Aruba to give concerts. For the first time it is mentioned that she was also a pupil of the French pianist Alfred Cortot. 'Paris? Great. Cortot? Enormous', she tells the reporter of Het Nieuws (July 20, 1953) when asked. She does let it be known, however, that in Paris it is difficult to 'get in'. 'I was still able to play there, for student groups, among others. For Unesco.' She says she performs less because of motherhood.
Majoie (in the middle with flowers) is picked up from Zanderij Airport by her brother-in-law Wim van Binnendijk, the husband of her sister Toetie. In Suriname, she plays Chopin. Then she leaves for Venezuela to perform in Caracas and in Maracaibo, in Maracaibo she performs Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto with the University Orchestra and after that she goes to the Antilles.
The Amigoe of 5 August 1953 remarks that in her own compositions Majoie Hajary shows herself to be a child of her time. Her 'Pièces enfantines' have a distinctly modern character, while in the 'Variations on a Surinamese Folk Song' we even thought to catch a glimpse of jazz here and there. By the way, Majoie states that she is a great lover of real jazz music. All in all, it was an exceptionally successful evening, such as rarely happens here in Aruba, unfortunately', the newspaper concludes.
In July 1954, Majoie gives a recital in the Theatre Municipal with the cooperation of l'Ecole Nationale de Musique and the director of the school, M. Djemil. She plays compositions by Georges Arnoux, Albeniz and herself.
In Scheveningen's Kurhaus, the West Netherlands Symphony Orchestra will give a concert, the revenues of which will go to the leprozeries in Suriname. Majoie and the Maranatha quartet (men's choir from Suriname) take part in it. Het Binnenhof of 1 October 1955 comments on Majoie's performance of Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto: 'She performed this work with great skill and nonchalance, but probably because of the discrepancy in conception and tempo between her and the orchestra leader [guest conductor Eddy Wessels, conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra in Paramaribo] she could not give a satisfactory performance. The success of the evening was without a doubt the performance of the Maranatha quartet. It sang a series of Negro spirituals, so pure, so sensitive and so unaffected, that it was a real pleasure to listen to them.'
In 1956, Majoie lives with her husband and children in a flat in St. Denis, a suburb of Paris. Roland Garros builds an aeroplane in the living room and it has to leave the house via the balcony. Majoie writes in a biography that they fly around the world (India, China, Japan, Africa) in this small plane (!) to study musical styles on the spot. Both said to have a pilot's licence.
Majoie is working on a 'Serenade' and a 'Tango', she writes to her friend Alicia de Larrocha in March 1956. Source: Arxiu Alicia de Larrocha Archive www.fondo.aliciadelarrocha.com
The 'Tango' is dedicated to Madame Arlette Boucart [Boucard]. She is the daughter of the famous Parisian bacteriologist Dr Pierre Boucard: an art collector from the Parisian jet set, who has himself (in1929), his daughter and his wife portrayed by the painter Tamara de Lempicka. Majoie is a friend of the family, but it is not known whether she made the composition on commission. 
in jet-set circles, she met Josephine Baker: her 'big sister' as early as 1949. Portrait Boucard by De Lempicka.
Majoie has publicity photos taken. It is not clear from which year this glamour photo is and who made it.
Meisterkonzert der indischen Pianistin Majoie Hajary, Paris, am Samstag, dem 13. Oktober 1956 um 20 Uhr'. This is the announcement of the Goethe Volkshochschule in the German town of Langen. Hamburg is also on the programme. She has not performed for some time, two years, she writes to Alicia de Larrocha. Source Arxiu Alicia de Larrocha. Photo Wing Majoie Neuilly
A period of travelling follows. Roland Garros works for the airline Air France. Because of this, Majoie and her family travel to various countries in the years to come. From 1958, the family lives in Tananarive: capital of Madagascar. She gives a concert there in March 1959, where, besides Beethoven, Liszt, Ravel and Granados, she also plays her own compositions: 'Serenade Hindu' and 'Variations sur Grietjebie'. It is not clear whether these are other names for respectively her 'Ballet Hindu' and 'Surinamese Rhapsody'. The Grietjebie is the tropical (Surinam) yellow-bellied bird that is named after the sound it produces. Majoie is said to have collaborated with the Conservatory in Tananarive .
In the early 1960s she and her family lives in Congo, in the capital Brazzaville. She visits doctor Albert Schweitzer, who runs a hospital in Lambarene in Gabon: the neighbouring country. Schweitzer plays the piano and organ well. Majoie can be seen on the right on the photo from 1962. In Brazzaville in February 1963 she proposes to the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Gandzion to train talented local musicians to become music teachers, so that they could teach singing in schools, compose and conduct choirs. It is unclear whether it will come to that...
In September 1964, the family leaves for Tokyo, where Majoie composes 'Rokudan' for koto (Japanese stringed instrument) and chamber orchestra. Moeko Ohno (koto) performs the composition at the Musashino Academia Tokyo. It would have been heard on Japanese radio. Korakuen, the beautiful Japanese landscape park, forms the background for her film script entitled 'Korukan Park' (sic). It begins with the title song 'I dreamt last night that I was in Tokyo again'. The Japanese Kabuki Theatre in Tokyo plays a prominent role in it. It is unknown what happened to the script. Japan was also the source of inspiration for 'Koraknen - un air du japon', which appears on the album 'New Sound from India', released by CBS in 1967. Her archive also includes 'Suite Kitoku' (a district in Osaka, Japan). See DATABASE.
In March 1966, Majoie's family is in Algiers, Algeria. She sends this photo to her mother, Maake, to congratulate her on her birthday.
'New Sound from India', released by CBS at the end of the 1960s, includes not only 'Korokuen' but also 'La Nostalgie', 'Raga Lilavati', 'Raga Joy' and 'Raga Wasardari', inspired by Indian ragas. The album is recorded in France in collaboration with drummer Christian Garros (member of the music collective Play-Bach and a cousin of her husband), bassist Pierre Michelot and artistic director Jean Eckian. Music critic Frank Onnen notes in the Gooi- and Eemlander of 27 March 1969 that the album attracted 'strong attention' from the press in France. The 'kind of marriage' between eastern and western sounds, he calls 'pioneering work'. Onnen: 'Majoye [sic] Hajary who grew up with the ragas as a child, but followed her musical education in Amsterdam as the fruit of an east-west marriage, was thus almost predestined from the cradle to bring this union about.'
In this period, she also worked with Jean Eckian and Christian Garros on the CBS recording of the 'Requiem for Mahatma Gandhi', also inspired by Indian ragas, on the occasion of Gandhi's 100th birthday. The B-side of the album consists of 'Indian Dance' no 1 and no 2, 'Ragini Asamoi' and 'Noubat'. Majoie plays the piano part. From correspondence it becomes clear that during the recording there are problems with the vi(ch)tra veena (Indian stringed instrument). One of the strings was damaged during transport from India to France.
Majoie corresponds about it with the firm Modern Musical Intruments in Delhi i. e. with Mrs. Bedi (envelope). There is also a correspondence at that time with veena player Ustad Ahmed Raza Khan whom she met in New Delhi. Majoie is about to move to Istanbul with her family.
On 19 November 1969, the album 'Requiem pour Mahatma Ghandi' is presented in France. Francoise Vincent-Malletra (Radio France) notes that this recording is by no means a 'simple reflection' of 'Indian folk music', but an authentic search for a synthesis between Western and Indian music. In the Netherlands, there is no review of this album in the newspapers. There is in a Turkish newspaper; Majoie and her family are living in Istanbul by then. A large article appears about Majoie's fusion of eastern and Western music. Majoie tells about her intention to study and play Turkish folk music.
This picture is from 1970, Majoie with Roland on the dance floor, somewhere in Istanbul.
In 1970 part of her oratorio 'Da Pinawikie' (Passion Week), 'La Passion selon Judas', is recorded by CBS. Again in cooperation with artistic director Jean Eckian in an arrangement by the (jazz) trumpeter Roger Guerin. Majoie brings her extremely musical Surinamese relatives and friends from the Netherlands - Carl, George and Ciska Tjong-Ayong, Ernst Bleijert and Siegfried Rijsdijk - to Paris to sing the Surinamese solo and choral parts in the studio.
To the music of 'La passion de Judas', the Surinamese ballet dancer and choreographer Ymme Dahlberg designs a modern ballet. Soloists are Percy Muntslag, Marlene Lie A Ling, Ilse Marie Hajary (Majoie's niece), Henk Tjon and pupils from the Surinam dance schools. Fourteen years later, in April 1987, the National Ballet Surinam dances the piece again, but this time in the choreography of Ilse Marie Hajary. The Dutch National Ballet Surinam is searching for its own Surinam dance style, through a mixture of techniques. 'Da Tori fu Judas' [the story of Judas] is an excellent example of this, because the music itself calls for such a mix', says Ilse Marie in the Surinam newspaper de Ware Tijd of 11 April 1987.
In the early 1970s, the love for 'Moustache' is over. Majoie gets a divorce. She earns a living by teaching music. Together with her compositions, this does not provide enough money to live on. Majoie is a polyglot, she speaks good French, English, German and Dutch. She does translation work for the Dutch embassy in Paris and regularly contributes to the periodical: Man Power, monthly news on European employment problems. She has been translating textbooks and novels, such as Marnix Gijsen's Telemachus in the Village, for several years. See DATABASE.
The Stichting Culturele Samenwerking (Sticusa) provides a subsidy to perform the oratorio 'Da Pinawiekie' in its entirety. 'La passion selon Judas' ('Da tori fu Judas' in Surinam) is only a part of it. The Surinamese text of the oratorio is based on the Surinamese bible of her grandmother Carootje. She works on it since the 70s, but it is not until 1974 that the performance actually takes place. The daily paper Vrije Stem notices on 3 April 1974: 'The CCS [Cultural Centre Surinam - counterpart of Sticusa] says it will present the production in question as a product of the highest level and within the framework of its policy, which is aimed at stimulating the self-awareness of the Surinamese people in the area of culture as much as possible.'
In 1972 Majoie, just back from a rehearsal in Suriname, visits Holland on her way to Paris. She tells the Wereldomroep in een interview about her dream of having her oratorio 'Da Pinawiekie' performed in full in Paramaribo. This doesn't work out in 1974 due to a shortage of musicians. An adapted version with a smaller orchestra does succeed however. Reporter Anton Foek, who interviews her in Paris in 2006 for the radio station 'Zorg en Hoop', makes another enthusiastic, but vain attempt to make her dream come true. For years, Majoie works on a German, English and French translation of this composition in which she tried to capture the musical styles of Suriname.
In 1974, the French record label Le chant du monde releases 'Le Gita-Govinda - Chant d'amour de Krishna' from the poet Shri Jayadeva in the French translation by Marguerite Yourcenar, read by Maurice Béjart and sung by Savitry Nair. The album is attributed to her, but there is no reference to Majoie Hajary on the cover, although her music has been registered. In her archive we also find compositions with the names 'Chants de la Gita Govinda' (1971) and 'Krishna Govinda - Poppastorale'. See DATABASE
Surinam gains independence from the Netherlands on 25 November 1975. Henck Arron becomes the new prime minister. Majoie writes to her family in Suriname: 'I hope that ARRON decides to offer me the job of Unesco delegate in Paris. All of Unesco is full of it and wants to appoint me but this MUST be applied for in Suriname, costs them nothing (it is an international job). But I am afraid that they will choose someone else.' She was indeed not chosen.
In the year her mother dies - her father passed away in 1959 - filmmaker Pim de la Parra creates the feature film 'Wan pipel' about the unification of the Surinamese people. Majoie is one of the people he consults for the film music; he visits her in Paris. Some music fragments are based on existing work by Majoies ('Da Pinawikie'). She is present at the premiere in the Calypso theatre in Amsterdam in 1976.
In 1978, Majoie worked as a translator for the English-language section of Radio France Internationel focusing on Africa, 'Paris calling Africa'. Majoie stands behind her friend Edward Collins, director of the section.
Regularly, 'par avion', postcards are sent across the ocean to the family in Paramaribo. 'Brassas [hugs] to you all.'
Majoie is making renewed efforts to get 'Da Pinawikie' performed. She is assisted in this by members of the Surinam Music Collective in the Netherlands, such as Fine de Beun-Kenswil and John Leefmans. Majoie also corresponds with the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in Suriname. Since the coup of 1980, the military has taken over power in Suriname. There are changes of ministers and the country is in a bad financial state. There will be no performance.
Christmas card of a snowy landscape to her family in Suriname.
Between 1987 and 1991 she publishes three textbooks: Yoga du Pianiste, L'Art du Piano, une méthode à la portée de tous and La forme du Râga. See DATABASE. About the keystroke she writes in Yoga for the pianist: 'There are renowned pianists with skinny and bony fingers (...), there are those with long and thin fingers like claws, yet others have plump fingertips and pads. All these performers are able to move their listeners. So what is their secret? It is love. These performers love the piano, they are in love with it, (...), a crazy love, that makes them forget everything - technique, audience - and by letting themselves be carried away they reveal the secret of their deepest being, their soul.'
In August 1988, she informs her friend Alicia de Larrocha that she is working on an opera ('un travail fou et despérant'), while her country is at war. From 1986 to 1992, a disastrous internal war rages in Suriname. Majoie writes the text in French. The opera 'La larme d'or' ['The golden tear'] has to be translated into Surinamese: 'Na gowtu watr'ai'. This opera about the time of slavery - actually intended as a telefilm - consists of a Prologue and three Acts. Places of action: Paramaribo, Fort Buku, the Jodensavanne and the Kasikasi mountains. The protagonists, the escaped slave Batseba [Bethsabee] (soprano) and the Prince of Manoa (baritone), are opposites. In the final scene, the prince dies in the arms of Batseba, who, unlike the prince, firmly believes in a better world. Life without dreams, without faith, without purpose is impossible. The prince dies because he does not believe in himself', according to the synopsis. Majoie considers this, and her oratorio 'Da Pinawiekie', to be her life's works. Several versions can be found in her archive. Source a.o.: Arxiu Alicia de Larrocha.
She works for years on perfecting the opera in which the sounds of Surinam come together. Old work is given a new role. In Act 2, scene 1, the 'Surinaamsche Rapsodie' (or 'Peroen, peroen...') from 1948 can be recognised. This is a transcription from 2000.
Annette Dieudonné writes a letter on behalf of the Fondation Internationale Nadia et Lili Boulanger to the composer Marcel Landowski, in which she brings to his attention 'the' opera by her former pupil Majoie. It is probably 'La larme d'or'. Presumably she writes to Landowski in his capacity as secretary of the Académie des Baux Arts of the Institut de France.
Majoie composing with the grand piano in the background in Neuilly.
Majoie also brings her opera 'La larme d'or' ('The Golden Tear') to the attention of Nicolas Sarkozy, who at that time is the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine. She gave piano lessons to his children. He advises her to contact the Department of Culture and Communication. It is not clear whether wether this is a request for a contribution or a performance of her work.
In April 1994, the Stichting Surinaams Muziekcollectief, which promotes Surinamese classical music, celebrated its tenth anniversary. Here in the newspaper photo Majoie is standing next to board member and singer Fine de Beun, who together with, among others, chairman John Leefmans and violinist/former concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra John Helstone, advocate on behalf of the foundation the performance of Majoie's operas 'Da Pinawiekie' and 'The golden tear'. On this day, Majoie performs two compositions, about which the reviewer remarks: 'The pièces enfantines by Majoie Hajary seemed stronger than her somewhat banal 'Perun-perun-variations'.
On 22 March 1996 Majoie writes a card to the Fine de Beun. 'Fine, très chère, my compositions (transcriptions 'Da gowtu kre [The golden tear] well received by audience. (Concert Staats - Initiative Wien). Back in Paris at the beginning of April, I will contact you about devotion 'Da Pinawiekie'. Tan boen - think of your health, love your Majoie Hajary.' From this scribble it seems that a performance of part of 'The Golden Tear' took place in Vienna.
A part of her opera 'La larme d'or', 'The Golden Tear' to which she would dedicate the rest of her life, 'Raga du Prince', is released in 1999 in an edited version on a compilation CD. With Egon Mihajlovic (right) on harpsichord and Jeremias Schwarzer on recorder. Majoie Hajary: 'Surinam is the only country in the world in which the music of the East, West and Africa has come together for centuries.'
From Rijswijk, the Surinamese poet and befriended writer John Leefmans helps Majoie with the translations of 'La larme d'or' into Surinamese. On 2 October 1997 he writes: 'Dear Majoie, you have not heard from me for a long time, but I have been really good and diligent (...). The spelling of Sranan [Surinamese] has recently been officially changed. I have therefore stuck to that spelling as much as possible.' Furthermore, there follows a list of linguistic problems in the translation of French into Surinamese. Photo Michiel van Kempen (c).
Majoie sets poems by Gilles d'Antraigues to music. See Database. Photo: notes on the score (autograph)
Not often, but nevertheless with some regularity, work by Majoie is performed, both in the Netherlands and in Suriname. In 2007 musician Liesbeth Peroti, for whom Majoie Hajary has been an example, organises 'Ode to Majoie Hajary' in Paramaribo (Suriname). During the concert, various compositions were performed, including excerpts from 'Da Pinawikie' and 'La larme d'or'. See the DATABASE, also for other performances of her work between 1990 and 2020. And watch the youtubefilm Peroti made about Majoie Hajary on FORUM.
Another tribute 7 years later in 2014. The 3rd edition of the Festival Musiciennes en Guadeloupe is dedicated to Majoie Hajary. The festival honours female musicians and composers. The Quintette Allegria performs 'Flute de jade'. See also DATABASE.
25 August 2017 Majoie Hajary, aged 96, dies in her home in Neuilly-sur-Seine (near Paris), where she lived the last years of her life and where she is also buried. In her coffin a jar filled with Surinamese earth. On her marble tombstone is inscribed for all eternity: 'Majoie HAJARY, Mme Roland GARROS Pianist - composer 1921-2017.' Was her life dedicated to a muse who had left her a bit out in the cold? Majoie Hajary already stated in 1972: a composer is only appreciated when he is dead.
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