Sir Robert Mayer (5 June 1879 – 9 January 1985) was a German-born British philanthropist, businessman, and a major supporter of music and young musicians.
Mayer was born in Mannheim, Germany; his father was a brewer. From the age of 5 Mayer attended the Mannheim conservatoire, where, at the age of 11, he prepared a piano ballade by Brahms but was not chosen to perform it before the composer. However, he sat next to Brahms during the concert. He also studied under Felix Weingartner.
His father, however, insisted that Mayer go into business. Initially he worked in the lace trade, and then, moving to London in 1896, became a banker, whilst continuing his piano studies with Fanny Davies and others.
Mayer became a citizen of the United Kingdom in 1902, and joined the British army in the First World War.
His first wife, the soprano Dorothy Moulton Piper (d. 1974), an avant garde singer whom he married in 1919, encouraged him to continue his interest in music. Early in their married life, whilst living in the United States, Mayer came across the children's concerts organised by Walter Damrosch, and he was inspired by these to found the Children's Concerts, later known as the Robert Mayer Concerts for Children, in 1923 (and later set up 'Youth and Music', founded in 1954, and affiliated to Jeunesses Musicales). The first series of concerts were conducted by Adrian Boult and Malcolm Sargent.
Mayer had three children, two of whom would go on to survive him: Adrian and Pauline. In 1980, aged 101, he remarried to Lady Jacqueline Mayer Noble.
In 1932, Mayer was one of the founders of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and he also helped found the London Schools Symphony Orchestra in 1951. He was also involved, with Egon Wellesz, with the founding of the ISCM.
His 100th birthday in 1979 was a national celebration that included a gala concert at the Royal Festival Hall which was attended by Queen Elizabeth II. On the day of his 100th birthday he was a guest on the BBC's radio programme Desert Island Discs. His song choices were:
Selig wie die Sonne (from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Wagner
I'm off to Chez Maxim's (from The Merry Widow), Lehár
Dies irae (from Requiem Mass), Verdi
Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat major, D960, Schubert
Concerto for Orchestra, Bartók
His castaway's favourites were:
An die Musik (To Music), D547, Schubert
Sinfonia Concertante In E Flat Major, Mozart
Later in that year Mayer, joined by Joyce Grenfell and Robin Ray, appeared as a guest on the BBC TV quiz Face the Music.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Bernard Keeffe played music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, Malcolm Arnold and Jean Sibelius, the most requested works as the result of a poll.