From Australia’s Jewish Past
Robert Pikler – violinist, violist and conductor
Robert Pikler
Robert was born on 24 January 1909 in Fureszfalu, Hungary. He was one of six children of Emil Pikler, Social Democrat member of the Hungarian parliament, and his wife Roza.
He studied with Eugene Ormany and then entered Budapest’s Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he studied violin and viola. He also showed an interest in conducting and in 1927 he formed a chamber orchestra which toured extensively in Central Europe before departing in 1934 for Asia. Combining his concert, radio work, and conducting, he lived and worked in India for two years. He later toured the East with the violinist Szymon Goldberg and the pianist Lili Kraus. In 1936, two of Robert’s brothers, both musicians, Miklos and Geoge formed the Pikler Brothers’ Orchestra and they left to work in Surabaya Indonesia on a year’s contract. The group also worked in Penang for a year before returning to Indonesia.
While directing the Netherlands East Indies Radio Orchestra in Batavia (Jakarta) in 1942, the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies and the three brothers were interned in a Java labour camp for three years. They were fortunate to receive extra food for performing which helped them to survive. Robert later commented: ‘With all humility, I feel I was stronger than many others. I had a stronger will to survive’. In 1946 Robert arrived in Sydney, broke, without an instrument, and wearing a borrowed suit.
Within a few months of arriving in Sydney, Robert formed, with Richard Goldner – the Goldner String Quartet – the Musica Viva Chamber Players. Robert was the violinist and leader and they became the most popular group achieving up to two hundred concerts a year. Unfortunately, the group disbanded in 1951 following Musica Viva’s temporary collapse. Although Robert was among the many Jewish musicians who pioneered the organisation, he was not involved in the Jewish community. He became an Australian citizen in 1958.
In 1952 (Sir) Eugene Goossens offered Robert the position of principal violist in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. While a wonderful opportunity he accepted reluctantly this role provided financial security. He accepted reluctantly but being part of the SSO provided him with financial security. He was a model uncompromising musician and it wasn’t long before he was recognised as the best viola player in Australia. Visiting musicians who sought to collaborate with him included Yehudi Menuhin, Raphael Kubelik, Daniel Barenboim, and (Sir) William Walton.
Robert resigned from the SSO in 1965 and became the artistic director and violist with the Sydney String Quartet, whose home was at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music. His exceptional skill as a chamber musician contributed much to the quartet’s success, which became the first Australian string quartet to perform internationally. In 1969 eye problems caused him to leave the quartet and he returned to conducting and formed the Robert Pikler Chamber Orchestra. They toured Australia and Asia and were extremely well-received. Robert retired from public performances the following year and was honoured at a packed concert at the conservatorium on 20 November for his contribution to Australia’s musical development.
Although no longer performing, he was an exceptional string teacher and, as a tireless advocate of young performers, he became the senior lecturer at the conservatorium, where he formally taught until 1978. In 1972 he formed the Sydney Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra and his mentoring also contributed much to the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s early years.
To Robert, Australia presented a rather isolated world of art and music, and it was most important for him to keep his involvement with the central European traditions and standards of excellence. The music critic Roger Covell wrote that he continuously demonstrated ‘what it means to be a musician in the highest sense’. He was especially associated with poignant performances of Bartok’s String Quartet No.6 and Mozart’s String Quintet in G Minor; the ‘dark brown honey’ of his viola playing tended to overshadow his virtuosity with the violin. He officially retired in 1971, at only sixty-two years of age, when he said ‘’he could still meet his standards of music.’’ In 1972 he received the Encyclopaedia Britannica Australian Arts Award and in 1974 was honoured with an OBE.
Throughout his career, Robert learned to overcome courageously several chronic weaknesses. Pressure neuritis in his left hand forced him to play with plastic caps on two fingers to lessen the pain. Terrible headaches were the legacy of cancer in the bone cavities of his face. At home, his poor health made him ‘morose’.
He was a proud, uncommunicative, private man with a satirical sense of humour. He was also a talented chess and bridge player. At age seventeen, he was officially rated a chess master and won titles in India and Australia. He had olive skin, dark eyes, and a strong, serious face which showed his central European origins. Robert married twice to musicians. His first wife Lois had said that Robert was, the greatest musical influence on her life’’ They had a daughter and two sons. Lois left him for the orchestra’s then-principal cellist. The three kept a close musical collaboration. His second wife Claire was an oboist. His daughter observed that a Hungarian background also meant yearnings for ‘hot salami, ice water, and walnut pancakes’. Robert passed away on 17 January 1984 at his home in Magill Adelaide. He is remembered through numerous recordings and a conservatorium scholarship.
The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:
Australian Dictionary of Biography – Diane Collins; Wikipedia; Bach Contantas; Sydney Morning Herald December 2008 and August 2011; National Film and Sound Archive Australia
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