Claire now says that in spite of his condition at that time, David was nevertheless far better then than he is now. “You could conduct a proper conversation with him and his piano playing was also better. He did not smoke or drink lots of tea or coffee; and he did not kiss or hug or touch people, including almost total strangers, to the extent he does now.”
In 1974, things continued to decline and David’s behavior grew more erratic. Claire remembers that he would physically cling to her and when she had to go to give cooking lessons, she always wondered where he would be when she got home. Sometimes, he would spend hours practicing, but at other times he would run to the beach, a couple of miles away, and swim for hours. Once she had to fetch the lifeguards to bring him back to shore because he just wouldn’t get out of the water.
One day, after searching everywhere for David, Claire discovered that he had admitted himself to Graylands Psychiatric Hospital. “He had done so without telling me first. I was extremely upset. I had realized that he would never fully recover, but I thought that with treatment his illness could be controlled without the need for further hospitalization. I went to see him every day. Peter and other family members were always there. I sat with him for hours and also often phoned. David told me over and over again that the pianist Horowitz had been in a mental hospital and had come out healthy and playing again. `It doesn’t matter if I am a bit different,’ he said, I’ll be okay.’”
Naturally, this was a terrible time for the entire Helfgott family. I visited David frequently. It was very upsetting for us to see him so heavily medicated and looking so distraught.
When David was allowed to leave the hospital in April 1975, he decided to move back into the family home, explaining to Claire that his family could devote all their attention to him, whereas she had her own children to care for. Claire said: “As much as he said he needed me and loved me, he needed the warmth of his parents even more.”
In the meantime, David had fallen in love with another woman, whom he had met in the hospital. Claire and David saw less and less of each other, and eventually divorced. Claire recalls, “At that time I thought it better to stay away from David as there was not much more I could do for him under the circumstances.”
Scott Hicks chose to leave Claire out of Shine altogether. One reason for this may be that including her would have altered the impression that Gillian was David’s savior, and that David probably remained a virgin into middle age. In the film Gillian injects love, music, and light into what is depicted as David’s otherwise gray and miserable world; then toward the end of the story, they are shown having sex.
But perhaps the real reason for leaving Claire out was that even Hicks could not quite stomach the things that Gillian had to say about her. Of the many cruel, spiteful things included by Gillian in her book, perhaps the most unpardonable is what is written about Claire. Referring to her by her Hungarian name, Clara, Claire is described as “the world’s greatest bitch.” Gillian quotes David as saying that marrying Claire was “the greatest mistake of his life” and that their marriage was “made in hell and consecrated by and presided over by the Devil.” She writes that Claire “would publicly ridicule and bully” David and that “David shivered at the memory” of Claire.
Just in case we miss the point, Gillian has entitled the chapter about Claire “Made in Hell,” but opens it with a line about herself: “David was totally Joyeux’ about my decision to marry him.”
Not surprisingly, Claire is distraught by what has been written about her. In its first few months Gillian’s book sold an astonishing 60,000 copies in Australia alone and was high up on the best-seller lists in the United States and several other countries. Claire told me that as a result she has suffered enormous distress and all kinds of medical problems. She asked the publisher to remove the sections referring to her from the book, as well as demanding an apology from Gillian. Both requests have been refused. (At least four other people, including myself, have written to the Australian publisher, Penguin, to complain about the way we are portrayed in Gillian’s book. I have also agreed to honor Claire’s request not to reveal her last name as she has already received more than enough harassment from the press and others as a result of Gillian’s book.)
“David’s mind has been poisoned against me by Gillian,” says Claire. “What she quotes David as saying is pure fabrication and fantasy. She has simply put the words into his mouth. It’s very easy to get David to agree to anything. He would mimic everything put to him. As for the Tactual’ claims in Gillian’s book, such as the one that I sold David’s piano in order to make some money for myself, these are too ludicrous to be dignified with a reply. I think everyone can see who is making the money.”
(From cover) Margaret with David at his
beloved piano in August 1996.
(MELVYN TUCKEY)
Peter Elias Helfgott, probably on his way
back into Poland to see his family again.
Rae, my mother (on the right), in 1936
in Czestochowa, Poland, at age 16.
Rae and Peter Helfgott just after their
engagement, in Melbourne. (MIRIAM LEMISH)
Rae and Peter Helfgott on their wedding day in Melbourne, 1944, Back row, left to right: Mrs. Stark, David Granek, Peter Helfgott, Morry Granek, Mrs. Lew. Front row: Rebecca Granek, Esther Lew, Rae Helfgott, Miram Stark, Shirley Lew.
Peter and Rae Helfgott with Margaret in 1945
Rae Helfgott on her wedding day, 1944.
Photo of Peter Helfgott s sister Hannah Helfgott and her passport documentation. She also suffered from mental illness and was hospitalized for most of her life. (MARGARET HELFGOTT)
David at 12.
My brother Leslie practicing on his violin, at age 10 or 11, in Perth.
Margaret Helfgott, practicing for the Concerto & Vocal competition in Perth, 1967. (WEST AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS)
The family in Highgate, 1960. Back row, from left: David, Rae with baby Louise, and Margaret. Front row: Suzie and Leslie. (PETER HELFGOTT)
Margaret at 15, with David, 13, in the back yard of our home in Perth, 1961. (PETER HELFGOTT)
Peter giving the young David a lesson. David was enraptured with the piano from the moment he could touch the keys. David wrote a tribute to his father in the newspaper after he died. (MARGARET HELFGOTT)
My parents outside Perth Zoo in 1962. (MARGARET HELFGOTT)
Peter Helfgott’s three-wheeler motor bike, on which he used to take the Helfgott children for hair-raising rides. (PETER HELFGOTT)
Margaret with Frank Arndt in Perth, 1996.
David’s piano teacher, Madame Alice Carrard, aged 97, and Margaret Helfgott, in 1994.
A photo taken of the musical Helfgott family to mark Margaret’s appearance in the state finals of the Concerto & Vocal competition in Perth, 1967. Back row, from left: Peter, Margaret, Rae; front row: Suzie, Louise, Leslie. (David was studying in London at the time.) The portrait of Margaret on the piano was done by Mrs. Adela Shaw of Melbourne, an artist friend of Rae and Peter Helfgott.
David at 14, with his favorite black cat at his feet at our home in Perth, 1961. (MARGARET HELFGOTT)
David and Margaret, playing a two-piano work at Dorothy Crofts house, 1980. (RAE HELFGOTT)
Leslie (on violin) and David (on piano) with Mom, and Davids close friend Dorothy Croft, 1980.
David with Reverend Robert Fairman at Gildercliffe Lodge, 1982.
Rae Helfgott in 1980. (MARGARET HELFGOTT)
Rae Helfgott with (left to right) my brothers and sisters David, Leslie, Louise and Suzie, 1975. David was living happily at home with his parents at this time, after coming out of the hospital. Peter Helfgott was nursing him full-time. (MARGARET HELFGOTT)
Peter Helfgott’s grave site, with the stone the Helfgott family had inscribed “In Loving Memory.”
David and his teacher, Hungarian-born Madame Alice Carrard, the grand old lady of Perth’s musical circles, in approximately 1985.
Leslie playing violin with David in 1990, straight out of the swimming pool. David goes swimming almost every day, whatever the weather. In January 1988, he was proud to play at the opening of the World Swimming Championships.
David and Les in a serious political discussion, 1996. (MELVYN TUCKEY)
Margaret Helfgott on her wedding day in Jerusalem, with her mother, Rae Helfgott, who flew in from Australia for the occasion, 1988. (DOREEN KAHILLA)
Macpherson told me that the claim made in Gillian’s book that Claire married with a view to making money out of David’s career is preposterous. David did not earn money and was a complete financial burden to Claire throughout their marriage. Her eldest son had to find a job to help out because David wasn’t earning anything.
Claire has already suffered more at the hands of the Nazis than most of us are ever likely to endure. It is impossible adequately to express how upset my family and I are at the association of words like “hell” and “devil” with my former sister-in-law, one of the kindest and most decent people I have ever met. “It is just outrageous,” says my brother Leslie.
To all those who know Claire, Gillian’s remarks would be laughable, were they not so cruel. That Claire is an extremely generous person can be seen, for example, by the fact that she shared her home for three years with a runaway Aboriginal girl who was desperate not to return to the orphanage from which she had escaped. Another Aboriginal girl, who was blind from birth and lives in an institution, comes to stay with Claire every weekend.
Even today, in spite of what David says—or is made to say—in Love You to Bits and Pieces, Claire tells me of her concern for David’s welfare whenever we speak. As far as his current fame is concerned, she says “for David’s sake, I’m happy that he believes that he has made it, but I’m sad at the way he has been exploited.”
I received a lovely letter from Claire’s eldest son Ray after Shine came out.
“Dear Margaret,” he wrote. “It is, unbelievable the way that your father has been portrayed, particularly in the film. I recall meeting him on a number of occasions including when he visited our home. He was nothing like the person he is now being presented as by Gillian and others. His concern for the family always came through and I found his manner to be unassuming and gentlemanly…. I know how difficult David could be, particularly as his condition deteriorated. However, I was always impressed by the way his family stood by him and tried to help. Then as now, it was very easy for everybody to offer advice and criticize, but when it actually came to helping David through his difficult periods those same people would not be there. Unfortunately, David’s talent attracted people to him in the way in which many people wish to be associated with success or apparent success.
“I clearly recall the love and care your father and family had for David, no matter what, so can empathize with the suffering created by the absolute distortion that has been presented about your father and the family in general. It is very sad that such a circus has been created around David and to me the motives are obvious. However, doing it by walking over the memory of a decent person such as your father is unforgivable. I can clearly understand, because the absolute garbage that Gillian has written about my mother has deeply upset me, too.”
I find these words heartwarming. I also feel that it is Allan Macpherson, who knew David and Claire intimately, who gives an accurate summary of the whole situation. In his words: “At the time, it was very sad to see them going through what was a massive struggle. But it is even sadder today that David recollects—through the opinions of his second wife—that his life with Claire was such a misery. The truth is that if there was any misery then it was indisputably attributable to his own condition and illness. Life with Claire was never “hell” for David. He was extremely fortunate that he had someone so considerate and responsible to look after him.”
13
MY FATHER’S FINAL YEARS
When David left Graylands Hospital and moved back home in April 1975, my father was seventy-one and six years into his retirement. Heartbroken to see David in such a sad condition, Dad dedicated the rest of his life to helping his son.
Looking after David was a great strain on the family. While the mentally ill suffer great pain, the impact on their family and those around them is often forgotten, even though they are in effect the secondary victims of mental illness. David could be extremely difficult. For example, he made Dad send all his clothes to the dry cleaners, which would cost my father a small fortune. He also insisted that he be allowed to practice the piano whenever’ he liked, even in the middle of the night. My father acquiesced to almost all of David’s wishes. He was still in excellent physical shape despite his heart and chest problems, and would often hop on the back of Leslie’s motorbike and go off and run errands for David. David’s eating habits were also prone to radical change. On some days, he would eat nothing at all, while there were other periods where he gorged himself and became quite overweight. At one stage he grew a beard, and on occasion he stooped over like a hunchback.
Dad was always looking for ways to stimulate David. He thought that learning something new would be good therapy, and asked David if he would like to play the violin. David was very enthusiastic. “He was an extremely fast learner; he had perfect pitch,” recalls Leslie, the violinist in the family, who helped my father teach David this new skill. Despite his poor health, David was very ambitious. After only a few lessons he was attempting to tackle some of the more difficult violin concertos, such as the Tchaikovsky Concerto, although getting through such demanding works was a struggle. David also liked accompanying Leslie’s violin playing at the piano. Leslie had reached a high level of proficiency, passing his seventh-grade practical violin music exams.
By now our whole house was filled with music. There were two pianos, four violins, bongo drums, a xylophone, and a chromatic harmonica—all of which my father had taught himself to play. Most of all, in his retirement Peter finally had time to play his beloved piano to his heart’s content. He would spend up to five hours a day practicing intricate pieces by Chopin, Liszt, and others.
Although his fingers had hardened and become stiff after a lifetime of manual work, my father was able to negotiate the difficult passages and accomplish all sorts of wonders at the keyboard. He also had more time to compose music for the piano. “Have you heard this melody before?” he would often ask me, concerned that he had unintentionally appropriated another composer’s work. I would reassure him that he had not. David, like me, was very impressed by Dad’s ability as a composer. I still have the letters that David wrote to me in Israel after Dad’s death; for example, in the one of February 4, 1976, he praises Dad’s talents as a composer and tells me he was planning to “record Dad’s fabulous compositions for the ABC.” And in his letter of April 2, 1976, David says: “Dad produced some beaut [sic] compositions before he died.”
Among other things, my father used his music to express his love for his adopted country. In 1973, Australia decided that it had finally had enough of the British national anthem “God Save the Queen,” which Australia had retained even though it had been independent since 1901. Seventy-odd years later someone decided that it was time Australia had an anthem of its own. So a competition was held to choose a new national anthem, and my father was one of the 2,500 Australians to submit an entry. The anthem he wrote went as follows:
“Australia—my wonder land”
by E.P. Helfgott
Verse 1 Verse 2
A long long time Work and sweat
Our nation to be All the way
Ever and ever No regrets
We shall be free Day after day
Courage and spirit So you and I
We possess Say aloud
Marching forward Aussie to be
To progress We are proud
Open spaces We pray
Bright skies We fight
Pleasant sunshine When cause
Nature nice Is right
We build and plo
ugh All mankind
Our fields Human rights
Harvest golden yields Australia—
Your stars are bright.
Australia—
my wonder land
While the language is simple, much of Australia’s essence is contained in my father’s words—courage, spirit, open spaces, and bright skies. He also expresses his devotion to the country that took him in, with phrases such as “Aussie to be—we are proud,” and “Australia—my wonder land.” His idealism, optimism, and hope for mankind are made clear in the last verse: he speaks of fighting for the right cause, for all mankind and for human rights, and he links this to Australia—“your stars are bright.” Not a bad effort for a Polish-Jewish immigrant with hardly any formal schooling.
In the end, none of the entries submitted were considered suitable, and it was not until 1984 that a new anthem, “Advance Australia Fair,” was chosen. My father’s composition is more idealistic than this anthem, which is structurally more formal and uses traditional lyrics.
Out of Tune Page 12