George Feyer (pianist)

George Feyer (Hungary, 27 October 1908 – New York, 21 October 2001) was a classically trained pianist who turned to 'light' music upon graduating, and released a series of top-selling "Echoes of..." records on Vox Records. Feyer was born György Fejér, but westernised his name after leaving Europe. (Feher means 'white' in Hungarian, and "Fejér is thus the equivalent of the antiquated spelling of the English name "Whyte".)

Feyer remembered as a young boy hating his piano practice so much that his mother, a piano teacher, had to tie his legs to the piano stool. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest [alongside conductor Sir Georg Solti], and at the Budapest Conservatory of Music. Among his teachers were Ernő Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók. By this time he was developing an interest in light music and was playing in the evenings in many of the boîtes around Budapest, such as the Cafe Dunacorso where he accompanied Zsuzsa Darvas, a popular diseuse.

Feyer graduated, aged 23, in 1932 and caused a minor scandal by turning to pop music full-time. It is ironic that he became a pianist after having been a student of composition and conducting, whereas his classmate Georg Solti, a piano prodigy, became one of the world's most acclaimed conductors.

One of Feyer's first jobs was accompanying silent films, but he soon moved to night clubs, and it was not long before he and his drummer began working around Europe. His first trip away from Budapest was in 1934, to Barcelona, Spain.

For the next five years he toured Europe. In Paris a great fan was the exiled Duke of Windsor (previously Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, who had abdicated the throne of England in December 1936, and who lived in France from 1937 to 1939). The Duke particularly liked the accordion, so Feyer and his drummer drew straws to decide which of them would have to learn to play it. The drummer lost, and Feyer was able to continue playing the piano.

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