Versatile Musician Henry Thomas D'Souza was born on 25th March 1931 in Modankamp in Bantwal Taluk. It is not known exactly when the family had come to Mangalore. But Henry was working for PFX Saldanha, located in Falnir. The family had a house in Attavar where he was staying with his mother and sister and he belonged to Milagres Parish.
It is not known whether Henry was a self-made musician or inherited his talents from his family. His forte in music encompassed a wide range of fields. He was a composer, lyricist and instrumentalist who could play a handful of instruments.
Henry was playing Mouth Organ, Harmonium, Violin, Flute and even Trumpet apart from his favourite instrument Guitar. He was a professional guitarist and was a music teacher. People always found him with a guitar and in Attavar he was nicknamed “Guitar Henry”.
There is no clear information when Henry made his debut as a songwriter or as music composer for films, Konkani plays or write perfect lyrics to the tunes of music of brass bands. Brass bands were an inalienable part of functions and events of Catholic people and these brass bands were quite popular in the 60’s and 70’s and proved to be the perfect pedestal for Henry to demonstrate his music talent. He had a special knack for writing lyrics and composing tunes to waltz numbers and the songs caught public imagination making Henry a popular name in Konkani music. At a time when public response to the songs was only lukewarm, Henry single-handedly shouldered the responsibility of rekindling the Konkani flavour among the people.
Achievements :
Konkani music lovers cannot have enough of listening to the evergreen Konkani song ‘Juliana Juliana Moga Muja Juliana...” composed by Henry T Dsouza and immortalised by the soothing and soulful voice of legendary singer late Hemant Kumar.
It was through the Konkani plays of photographer G D'Souza, known by his pen name Giri Chikmagalur, that Henry firmly established himself on the Konkani stage. Henry was the music composer for all the 26 plays of Giri and the chemistry between them really worked wonders leaving a rich legacy to Konkani music.
While Henry’s popularity was at its zenith, thanks to the brass bands and plays that popularised his lyrics, he got offers to compose music for Konkani movies when some zealous Catholics ventured into producing movies in Konkani. When Peter Gonsalves of “Tisri Cheet” fame decided to produce the first ever Konkani movie from Mangalore, Henry T was chosen to write the songs and compose music. But Henry had already committed himself to composing music for late Gabbu Urwa’s unnamed movie and therefore he had suggested the name of Rony Bondel to write the songs. Tisri Cheet movie was jinxed from the beginning as it was beset with a battery of problems resulting in a delay of almost 7 years in its release.
Family life and tragic death :
Henry T D'Souza got married to Emiliana on 30th March 1970. The couple’s older daughter Jane Doris was born in 1971 followed by second daughter Merlyn in 1972 in quick succession. Henry finally left this world 29th March, 1973 at the age of 42, due to an accident. By his untimely death , Konkani music lost a gifted son whose musical talent and creative ingenuity would have enriched Konkani language and music to a considerable extent. Those who have associated with him, learnt under him, worked with him, listened to his music, hummed his tunes and lyrics or were a witness to his extraordinary music talent, vouch for his extraordinary talent and genius.
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Legacy :
Though it is exactly five decades since Henry left this world, his legacy continues and people still recall Henry and his contributions to Konkani music. He gave a fillip to Konkani music when it was at its nascent stage. Many feel that if Henry were to live his full life he would have reached greater heights and attained international eminence. Despite his short stint on this earth he has left behind a deep-seated inheritance for which the Konkani community will remain grateful forever.
Related links :
Listen to Henry's popular Konkani Song Juliana :
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