{{Short description|English pianist, teacher and composer (1877–1957)}} {{Use British English|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} {{Infobox person | name = Herbert Fryer | image = George Herbert Fryer (1877–1957).png | alt = | caption = In ''The Sketch'', 22 April 1903 | birth_name = George Herbert Fryer | birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|5|21|df=yes}} | birth_place = Hampstead, London, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1957|2|7|1877|5|21|df=yes}} | death_place = London, England | burial_place = | occupation = {{hlist|Pianist|teacher|composer}} | years_active = 1898–1947 | awards = | spouse = | children = | education = {{Plainlist| * Royal Academy of Music * Royal College of Music }} | signature = | party = }} '''George Herbert Fryer''' (21 May 1877 – 7 February 1957) was an English pianist, teacher and composer.
==Early life== Fryer was born in Hampstead, London in 1877, the only son of three children.<ref name=bach/> His father George Henry Fryer was an insurance broker.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,3437.msg38127.html?PHPSESSID=tfftmkv784d0k16nn9l0idmp71#msg38127|title=British composers who were who in 1913|website=Unsungcomposers.com|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, then went on for two years study (1893–95) under Oscar Beringer<ref name=bach>{{cite web|url=http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Fryer-Herbert.htm|title=Herbert Fryer (Composer, Arranger) - Short Biography|website=Bach-cantatas.com|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM).<ref name=mw1/>
In 1894, Fryer won the Heathcote Long Prize.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php?topic=3493.0|title=Royal Academy of Music Prizes - Interesting Artefacts|website=Unsungcomposers.com|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> This was followed by four years of study (1895–1898) at the Royal College of Music (RCM), under Franklin Taylor.<ref name="bach" /><ref name="mw1">{{cite web|url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/July01/britinst.htm|title=Some British Instrumentalist Composers by Philip Scowcroft : MusicWeb(UK)|first=Music on the|last=Web(UK)|website=Musicweb-international.com|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> In 1898, Fryer had some lessons with Ferruccio Busoni in Weimar.<ref name=bach/> He also studied with Tobias Matthay.<ref name=grove>''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 5th ed. (London: Macmillan, 1954), vol. 3, p. 510: "Fryer, (George) Herbert".</ref>
== Career == He made his London debut on 17 November 1898,<ref name="bach" /> and then commenced a career as a touring recitalist as well as an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.<ref name="grove" /> These tours took him all over Britain and Europe, and also to many parts of Canada, the United States,<ref name="merc" /><ref>[http://libserv23.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/cgi-bin/princetonperiodicals?a=d&d=Princetonian19160513-01.2.3&e=-------en-20--1--txt-IN-----] {{dead link|date=November 2017}}</ref> Australia (including the goldfields of Western Australia),<ref name="kalg">[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93893487?searchTerm=FRYER&searchLimits=] {{dead link|date=November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93896828|title=Herbert Fryer|date=29 September 1920|website=Nla.gov.au|pages=3|accessdate=18 November 2017|via=Trove}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63027697|title=Herbert Fryer.|date=23 November 1920|website=Nla.gov.au|pages=3|accessdate=18 November 2017|via=Trove}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11499005|title=Herbert Fryer's Pianoforte Recital.|date=1 November 1920|website=Nla.gov.au|pages=2|accessdate=18 November 2017|via=Trove}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11499284|title=Herbert Fryer Recital.|date=3 November 1920|website=Nla.gov.au|pages=6|accessdate=18 November 2017|via=Trove}}</ref> South Africa, the Far East, and India.<ref name="bach" /> He was also a competition adjudicator.<ref name="mw1" /> He was said to have travelled more than any other British pianist.<ref name="merc" /> He gave 50 recitals in London alone, said to have been a record.<ref name="merc">{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11498517|title=Mr. Herbert Fryer.|date=28 October 1920|website=Nla.gov.au|pages=6|accessdate=18 November 2017|via=Trove}}</ref> The King of Norway attended his recital in Christiania.<ref name="kalg" />
He played at the Proms on six occasions between 1901 and 1918, performing 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/events/performers/2795/performances|title=404 Not Found|website=BBC Music Events|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref name=lost>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wrightmusic.net/pdfs/lost-generation-of-pianists.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=27 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402085514/http://www.wrightmusic.net/pdfs/lost-generation-of-pianists.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2012 |url-status=usurped |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 5th ed. (1954), vol. 1, p. 644: "Beringer, Oscar".</ref> From 1922 Fryer was also a frequent broadcaster during the earliest days of radio.<ref>[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/9efa13f6c4bcf43a08e49d0a7b10f607 Transmission to the Halifax Wireless Society, 21 October 1922, BBC Programme Index]</ref>
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).<ref name=bach/><ref name=grove/> 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.<ref name=bach/><ref name=mw1/> Fryer's list of pupils was impressive. They included Arthur Bliss, Lance Dossor, Colin Horsley, Constant Lambert, Harold Rutland, Cyril Smith and Kendall Taylor.<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arthur-Bliss-Illustrated-Lives-Composers/dp/0711965277 ''Sir Arthur Bliss'' by John Sugden, Omnibus Press, 1998]</ref>
== Later life and death == On retirement, he continued teaching privately above Blüthner's showrooms,<ref name="bach" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/fritz-fryer-mn0000739337|title=Fritz Fryer - Biography & History - AllMusic|website=AllMusic|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref>
==Students== Fryer's students:<ref name=lost/> * Trevor Barnard (born 1938), British-born Australian pianist and teacher * John Bishop (1903–1964), best known as founder of the Adelaide Festival<ref>{{cite book|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bishop-lionel-albert-jack-john-9514|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|first=Alan|last=Brissenden|chapter=Bishop, Lionel Albert Jack (John) (1903–1964) |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|access-date=18 November 2017|via=Australian Dictionary of Biography}}</ref> * Arthur Bliss (1891–1975), composer * Richard Bonynge (born 1930), conductor and husband of Dame Joan Sutherland<ref name=solti/> * David Buchan (1903–2000), blind British pianist, author of ''Memoirs of a Pianist'' * Alex Burnard (1900–1971), Australian composer<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/content.php?pid=72924&sid=539929|title=The Papers of Alex Burnard|website=Libguides.newcastle.edu.au|accessdate=18 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130429063118/http://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/content.php?pid=72924&sid=539929|archive-date=29 April 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> * Philip Challis (1929–1996), British pianist * John Clegg (1928–2014), pianist<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BeTBnjmnypEC&q=herbert+fryer&pg=PA119|title=International Who's who in Music and Musicians' Directory: (in the Classical and Light Classical Fields).|first=David M.|last=Cummings|date=18 November 2017|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780948875533|accessdate=18 November 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref> * Lance Dossor (1916–2005), British-born pianist and teacher who emigrated to Australia in May 1953 * Philip Gammon, (b. 1940), pianist<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.balletassociation.co.uk/reports/2005/Gammon05.html|title=Philip Gammon: Ballet Association meeting report|website=Balletassociation.co.uk|accessdate=18 November 2017|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025320/http://www.balletassociation.co.uk/reports/2005/Gammon05.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> * Colin Horsley (1920–2012), New Zealand-born pianist and teacher resident in the UK<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/obituary-colin-horsley-pianist|title=Obituary: Colin Horsley, pianist|first=Charlotte|last=Smith|date=7 August 2012|website=Gramophone.co.uk|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> * Leonard Isaacs (1909–1997), UK pianist and teacher who moved to Canada in 1963<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/leonard-isaacs-emc|title=Leonard Isaacs|website=Encyclopedia of Music in Canada|accessdate=August 26, 2019}}</ref> * Mack Jost (1918–2000), Australian pianist from Melbourne * John Kuchmy (1912–1988), Canadian pianist who worked in the UK<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-kuchmy-emc|title=John Kuchmy| website=Encyclopedia of Music in Canada|accessdate=August 26, 2019}}</ref> * Constant Lambert (1905–1951), composer<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.naxos.com/person/Constant_Lambert_39495/39495.htm |title=Constant Lambert- Bio, Albums, Pictures – Naxos Classical Music |access-date=27 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926085638/http://www.naxos.com/person/Constant_Lambert_39495/39495.htm |archive-date=26 September 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> * George Malcolm (1917–1997), pianist, organist, harpsichordist, and conductor<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baroquemusic.org/GeorgeMalcolm.html|title=Artist Biography: George Malcolm, Harpsichordist|website=Baroquemusic.org|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> * Anthony Milner (1925–2002), composer<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chesternovello.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2431&State_2905=2&composerId_2905=1057|title=Anthony Milner - Short Biography - Music Sales Classical|website=Chesternovello.com|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> * David Parkhouse (1930–1989), pianist<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parkhouseaward.com/friends.htm|title=Parkhouse Award - International competition for chamber ensembles of piano with strings|website=Parkhouseaward.com|accessdate=18 November 2017|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031652/http://www.parkhouseaward.com/friends.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> * Leo Quayle (1918–2005), South African pianist and conductor * Phyllis Schuldt (1911–1982), UK-born pianist who worked in Canada<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/phyllis-schuldt-emc|title=Phyllis Schuldt|website=Encyclopedia of Music in Canada|accessdate=August 26, 2019}}</ref> * Cyril Smith (1909–1974), pianist and teacher * Richard Smith (1928–2009), English pianist, teacher and concert director for Southport Arts Center * Kendall Taylor (1905–1999), pianist and teacher * Glyn Townley (1911–2012), South African pianist<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.artsmart.co.za/2012/01/tribute-to-glyn-townley.html|title=Tribute to Glyn Townley|website=news.artsmart.co.za|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref>
==Recordings== Herbert Fryer made some recordings, both Welte-Mignon piano rolls and 78 rpm acoustic recordings for Vocalion.<ref name=bach/> These include: * Beethoven: Minuet in E-flat<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spencerserolls.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=400403700|title=spencersrolls|website=Spencerserolls.com|accessdate=18 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031918/http://www.spencerserolls.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=400403700|archive-date=1 December 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> * Chopin: ''Trois nouvelles études''; Prelude from Op. 28 * Dvořák: Humoresque in G-flat<ref>{{YouTube|JlmFuHGudUQ}}</ref> * MacDowell: ''Sea Pieces'', Op. 55, recorded 1909<ref>{{YouTube|_-8Dp00g2Do|Sea Pieces}}</ref> * Schumann: ''The Prophet Bird'', from Op. 82
==Compositions== His compositions are now little known. They include: * ''Intermezzo'', Op. 1 (1903) * ''Étude-Caprice'', Op. 9, No. 1 * ''Suite in Old Form'', Op. 11, for piano (1910) * ''Deux Morceaux de danse'', Op. 12 (No. 1: ''Valse en ré''; No. 2: ''Petite danse'') (1912) * ''Trois Préludes pour piano seul'', Op. 16 (1914) * ''Three Preludes'', Op. 17 * ''Country Side. Suite for pianoforte'', Op. 18 (1918) * ''Transcriptions for Pianoforte of Old English Melodies from H. Lane Wilson's Collection'', Op. 19 (1919) * ''The Virgin's Cradle-Hymn'', Op. 20, No. 1<ref>{{cite web|url=http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Virgin's_Cradle-Hymn_(Fryer,_Herbert)|title=The Virgin's Cradle-Hymn (Fryer, Herbert) - IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library: Free Public Domain Sheet Music|website=imslp.org|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> * Five Transcriptions from Bach, Op. 22 (all from his Suites for solo cello):<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/tw.asp?w=W9797&t=GBAJY0754208&al=CDA67541/2|title=CDA67541/2 - Disc 2 Track 8 - Cello Suite No 6 in D major, BWV1012 - Hyperion Records - CDs, MP3 and Lossless downloads|website=Hyperion-records.co.uk|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> ** Bourrée & Gigue from Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009 ** Sarabande from Suite for Suite No. 4 in E flat major, BWV 1010 ** Sarabande & Gavotte from Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bach-cantatas.com/NVD/PT-Fryer.htm|title=Bach-Fryer: Piano Transcriptions of Bach's Works - Works|website=Bach-cantatas.com|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> (Jonathan Plowright has recorded the Sarabande;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/c.asp?c=C3461|title=Herbert Fryer (1877-1957) on Hyperion Records|website=Hyperion Records|accessdate=18 November 2017}}</ref> his live performance of it at the Wigmore Hall on 15 November 2008 can be heard {{YouTube|ITbcJMKVmts|here}}) * ''Six Little Variations on a Rigadoon by H. Purcell'', Op. 21 (1922) * piano arrangements of traditional Irish and English tunes<ref name=mw1/> ** ''Ah, Willow!''<ref name=solti>{{cite web|url=http://www.georgsoltiaccademia.org/repetiteurs-bonynge.php|title=Georg Solti Accademia|website=Georgsoltiaccademia.org|accessdate=18 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301111631/http://www.georgsoltiaccademia.org/repetiteurs-bonynge.php|archive-date=1 March 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> ** ''My Love's an Arbutus'' ({{YouTube|N1c-WWm8M1I}})
He wrote ''Hints on Pianoforte Practice'' (New York: G. Schirmer, 1916).
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fryer, Herbert}} Category:1877 births Category:1957 deaths Category:20th-century English classical composers Category:20th-century English male composers Category:20th-century English classical pianists Category:Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Academics of the Royal College of Music Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music Category:English male classical pianists Category:People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Category:British piano educators Category:English music educators Category:20th-century male pianists