Robert M. Mayer was born in Grand Forks,
North Dakota on August 26, 1910. At nine he began what he later
described as "three miserable years" on the violin before
an old clarinet player talked him into trying the oboe. It seems
the City Band needed an oboe player, and there wasn't one in the
entire state!
Robert took to the oboe like a duck to water, and it was not long before his school band director, Leo Haesle, told Bob that he had taught him all he could. Luckily, Bob's father was a conductor on the Great Northern Railroad, and this got young Robert a pass good over the entire line. With the pass Robert was able to travel from Grand Forks to Minneapolis every weekend for an oboe lesson with Louis Doucet, English horn player in the Minneapolis Symphony.
For the over 300 mile trip Robert would leave on the Friday 5:15 train after school, riding on the old hard leather seats for the full thirteen hour trip. After a long lesson with Doucet and a short stay in his home, Robert would get back on the train for Grand Forks on Saturday night, arriving home in time for Sunday breakfast with his family.
After a few years of this rather heavy routine Robert was asked to play principal in the first Duluth, Minnesota Symphony under the direction of John Bradbury. The Duluth trip was thus added to the previous schedule with Robert leaving Minneapolis Saturday to travel to Duluth. There was a Sunday morning final rehearsal and then the concert that afternoon. After the concert, Robert boarded the train for home, arriving just in time to go to school Monday morning.
This schedule continued until Robert was 15 when his family moved to Minneapolis. Robert was now studying with Alexandre Duvoir whom he described as "a most marvelous teacher and player who studied with George Gillet at the Paris Conservatory."
During the next few years Robert played extra oboe in the Minneapolis Symphony, played at the State Theater during the silent to sound movies era, and was in the staff orchestra at Radio Station KSTP in St. Paul. Upon the dissolving of the studio orchestra Robert joined the Sousa Band on its final tour where he played second oboe to Paul Gerhardt.
When the tour ended at Columbia University in New York right in the middle of the depression of 1930, Robert decided to head for home. On the way he stopped over in Chicago to visit his brother, heard of an opening in the Chicago Symphony, auditioned and got the job. Robert, barely 20, was the youngest member to have played in the orchestra at that time. He stayed there for 25 years and performed under such conductors as Frederick Stock, Bruno Walter, Toscanini, Munch, Monteux, Reiner, and many others.
During World War II, Bob was in charge of interviewing and auditioning all army personnel for music assignments. With bassoonist Charles Sirard as his assistant, Bob's Band Training Unit was turning out 350 musicians every eight weeks for assignments to music units all over the world.
In 1939 Robert, Ralph Johnson, Phillip Farkas, Jerry Stowell, and Clark Kessler organized the Chicago Symphony Woodwind Quintet. The Quintet was together for some 20 plus years with the only change being Wilbur Simpson to replace the deceased Kessler. The group was one of, if not THE, first woodwind quintet organized in any major symphony which traveled five weeks a year giving formal recitals, concerts, and clinics in 24 states.
Robert retired from the symphony after 25 years, but not to the rocking chair. He took a position teaching oboe and woodwind ensembles at Northwestern University, and joined Karnes Music Company as a consultant in school music programs. It was finally in 1976 that Robert re-retired and moved to his present home in Florida.
During all the years of playing, Robert taught privately. He has a strong conviction about teaching believing that "taking a youngster who has not played note one and carrying him through the beginning and middle stages of his instrument is as important as the advanced teaching of a more mature performer. " It is quite likely that Robert has started more young oboists of nine or over than has any other teacher.
Bob is a strict disciplinarian
in regards to scales and intervals which he considers to be the
basis for all technique. Former students recall how he would assign
three scales per lesson, and right up to high F for even the younger
players. This propensity for scales even carried over into his
clinics where he would have a volunteer from the audience playing
from low B-flat to high F in twenty minutes! Yet, he is described
by students as patient, very forgiving and understanding, and
always smiling. Because he was genuinely concerned not just about
their performance on the oboe but also about their personal lives,
he made each student feel very special.
My personal remembrances of Robert Mayer come when as a quite young 18-year-old sailor, I knocked on his door seeking lessons. At $21.00 per month I had little money, and he seemed to somehow recognize my problem. I was given a late evening time for my half-hour lesson and began a most delightful period. My meager half-hour would stretch into an hour, an hour and a half, sometimes more. I remember how Robert stressed the importance of being rhythmically accurate by awakening me to the background pulse. I remember how he stressed the music in every Barret study, every scale, every piece of music I encountered. I remember his purchasing an oboe for me (I was playing Brand X) while he was in France, and then allowing me to pay for it as I could.
An additional bonus in studying with Bob was to have an instant accompanist. Bob's wife, Dotty, would pop in from the kitchen to play the accompaniment to the Hindemith Sonata, and then go finish baking dessert. Dotty was truly the frosting on the cake.
Robert Mayer's career has been a long one and has touched many lives. I believe that how you are remembered by your students is a good indication of your personality. Without names, here are a few quotes from former students: "He would smile warmly as we progressed through Barret etudes, his eyes sparkling with promise that there was hope for me as an oboe player yet!" "He helped lay the foundation for my approach to the instrument ... .. Whether Mr. Mayer's oboe students continued on like I have, to play in professional orchestras, or decided to pursue other interests, I am sure all have been touched in a very special way!"
Over the years I have come to realize the importance of certain things in life and in music. I owe much of this to the understanding, musicianship, and teaching of Robert M. Mayer. I have also learned the importance of two simple words, so Bob...
Thank You.