From Australia’s Jewish past

George Pikler – Orchestra Leader

Gyuri (the Hungarian form of George) Pikler was born in Hungary on April 22, 1910.  He was one of six children in the musical family of Emil Pikler and his wife, Rosa Haber. As a small child, George was considered a prodigy and was sent to learn clarinet at the Budapest Conservatorium, where he studied with composers such as Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly.  Over the years, he learnt many more instruments, including piano, saxophone and accordion, and developed formidable sight-reading skills and an amazing talent in transposing entire pieces without needing to write down the notes.

In 1931, he married a distant cousin, Panni Jakobavits.  George and his brothers, Miklos and Robert, formed the Pikler Brothers’ Orchestra, and in 1936, they left for Surabaya, Indonesia, on a year’s contract. They also worked in Penang for a year before moving back to Indonesia.

In 1942, when the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies, George, who had divorced his first wife, married Johanna in 1940, and unfortunately they plus his brothers were interned in a labour camp on Java for three years. They lived because the Japanese wanted them to play at the camp.  When the guards sang in Japanese, Pikler could write the music out for them. They were astonished someone could play Japanese music, let alone write it down. The orchestra received extra food rations, which they were able to share with other prisoners. Years later, one of them wrote to thank Pikler, saying the extra food had saved his life. George had his limits, though, refusing to play Japanese nationalistic songs.

Music saved his life during World War II and let him start a new life in Australia.  Following the war, George stayed in Java until 1952, then sent his family to Australia to find a house before following them with luggage and furniture. He soon found work and in 1957, with the same determination he had shown in Hungary and Java, secured his own Sunday ABC radio program, which ran for many years. His group of eight players became one of the ABC’s most popular acts, specialising in continental and light classical music.  George was the twelfth of the fourteen founding members of the Music Arrangers’ Guild of Australia, formed in 1961.  By 1963, he was the band leader at Spellson’s restaurant in Sydney, backing international artists such as Nat King Cole and local talent such as Tommy Tycho, Kamahl and Frank Ifield, who at that stage, were early in their careers.

George worked as musical director for many leading entertainers and was, for a while, a member of Bob Gibson’s Orchestra. He was the musical director of the Keith Walsh Show on Channel Seven and arranged for several other shows. Under the name of Gyuri Patko, George and his orchestra featured on the AIDA label playing gypsy melodies. This was possible because there were so many Hungarian musicians working in Sydney that he was able to organise an authentic Hungarian orchestra to record gypsy and traditional Hungarian folk music and dances. The orchestra made twelve records that were so popular, some of them sold out on the first day of release.

In addition to his music, George was generous with his time and energy. When singers or musicians arrived from overseas, they were often sent to him for assistance.

In 1956, during the Russian invasion of Hungary, many Hungarians arrived in Australia, and George was asked to help. He contacted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, where his brother Robert was the principal viola player, to host a benefit concert, and he guaranteed payment to all the musicians.

In 1972, George married a third time, to singer Marta Kuty.  At ninety-five, he was still working, composing music and arranging music for artists such as Deborah De Graaf and Lauris Elms.

When George turned 101, he received a letter from the Hungarian Ambassador acknowledging his contribution to Hungary.  He passed away on 1 August 2011 and is survived by Marta and his children, Arthur, Alice, and Evie.

The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:

Australian Music Centre; National Library of Australia; Jewish Music and Theatre – PTJA – Performing the Jewish Archive; The Sydney Morning Herald Obituary – 1 August 2011.

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