GEORGE HERBERT FRYER (LONDON, 21 MAY, 1877 – LONDON, 7
FEBRUARY, 1957)
Fryer was born in Hampstead,
London in 1877, the only son of three children. His father George Henry Fryer
was an insurance broker. He was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School, then went
on for two years study (1893–95) under Oscar Beringer at the Royal Academy of
Music (RAM). In 1894, Fryer won the Heathcote Long Prize. This was followed by
four years of study (1895–1898) at the Royal College of Music (RCM), under
Franklin Taylor. In 1898, Fryer had some lessons with Ferruccio Busoni in
Weimar. He also studied with Tobias Matthay. He made his London debut on 17
November 1898, and then commenced a career as a touring recitalist as well as
an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. These tours
took him all over Britain and Europe, and also to many parts of Canada, the
United States, Australia (including the goldfields of Western Australia) South
Africa, the Far East, and India. He was also a competition adjudicator. He was
said to have travelled more than any other British pianist. He gave 50 recitals
in London alone, said to have been a record. The King of Norway attended his
recital in Christiania. He played at the Proms on six occasions between 1901
and 1918, playing such works as Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24, Beethoven’s
Piano Concerto No. 3, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Concert Fantasia,
and Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2. His knowledge of the Brahms concerto was
informed by the fact that his teacher Oscar Beringer had given the British
premiere of the work in 1882. In 1905, he took up a teaching position at the
RAM, where he continued until 1914. His first tour of North America came in
1914, and he stayed there for three years, teaching at the Institute of Musical
Art in New York (later merged with the Juilliard School). On his return to
Britain in 1917, he was appointed Professor of Piano at the Royal College of
Music, remaining in that post for the next 30 years, until 1947. Fryer’s list
of pupils was impressive. They included Arthur Bliss, Lance Dossor, Colin
Horsley, Constant Lambert, Harold Rutland, Cyril Smith and Kendall Taylor.[16]
On retirement, he continued teaching privately above Blüthner’s showrooms, and
died in London in 1957, aged 79. Fritz Fryer (1944–2007), lead guitarist of the
British pop group The Four Pennies, was his grandson.
TRACKLIST
1324 DVORAK – Humoresque, Op.
101, No. 7, Gb
1326 BEETHOVEN – Menuett, Eb
1327 BRAHMS – Intermezzo, Op.
118, No. 2, A
1328 CHOPIN- Preludes, Op. 28,
No. 6, b; No. 11, B
1575, 1574 MACDOWELL – “Sea
Pieces”, Op. 55, Nos. 4 Starlight; 5 Song “Sea Pieces”, Op. 55, #2 From
Wandering Iceberg; 3 A.D.
1576 MACDOWELL – “Sea Pieces”,
Op. 55, Nos. 6 From the Depths; 1 To the Sea
1578 MACDOWELL – To a Wild
Rose; To a Water Lily, Op. 51, Nos. 1 & 6
1579 MACDOWELL – In Deep Woods;
Indian Idyll, Op. 62, Nos. 5 & 6
1582 BEETHOVEN – Piano Sonata,
Op. 2, No. 1, f 1st & 2nd mvts.
1583 BEETHOVEN – Piano Sonata,
Op. 2, No. 1, f 3rd & 4th mvts.
1586 MOZART – Eine kleine
Gigue, K. 574, G
1587 DEBUSSY – “Children’s
Corner” Little Shepherd; Serenade for the Doll
