Samuel Mayes

Though he is somewhat forgotten today, Samuel Mayes was widely considered one of the finest American cellists from the mid-20th century. Among conductors and orchestral musicians he was highly respected, having served as principal cellist for many years in both the <a href="spotify:artist:0K23lQ2hSQAlxSEeZ05bjI">Boston Symphony</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6tdexW8bZTG8NgOFUCYQn1">Philadelphia Orchestra</a>. He was one of a relative few orchestral musicians who frequently recorded for major labels, sometimes headlining the performance but more often sharing the spotlight with such luminaries as violinists <a href="spotify:artist:2mPWTnscb2ieCZdEHn3mbG">Zino Francescatti</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3Nd3IdPZ8CDPAkwjGuz1MS">Joseph Silverstein</a>, oboist Robert Bloom and violist Scott Nickrenz. Mayes was a versatile musician away from orchestral music, regularly appearing in chamber performance and recitals with a broad range of repertory, from Baroque to modern, but showing a preference as soloist for <a href="spotify:artist:656RXuyw7CE0dtjdPgjJV6">Haydn</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6pAwHPeExeUbMd5w7Iny6D">Richard Strauss</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4kHtgiRnpmFIV5Tm4BIs8l">Prokofiev</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:46wMXZ6bEoXUlToxUglEtY">Kabalevsky</a>. Mayes' discography has withered over the years, but several of his recordings are available from <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sony%22">Sony</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Nimbus%22">Nimbus</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Pearl%22">Pearl</a>.

Samuel H. Mayes was born in St. Louis, MO, on August 11, 1917. From age four he studied cello with <a href="spotify:artist:4DBdvdTZBJd45Izgjt9Xlg">Saint Louis Symphony</a> principal cellist Max Steindel, and before Mayes reached his teens he had become a pupil of <a href="spotify:artist:4lcdJZhxQvnASqXVg6ZgJz">Felix Salmond</a> at the Curtis Institute. He graduated from Curtis in 1937 as a member of the <a href="spotify:artist:6tdexW8bZTG8NgOFUCYQn1">Philadelphia Orchestra</a>.

The following year <a href="spotify:artist:52sDxFX9DvIxUupTy8f1yx">Leopold Stokowski</a> engaged him to serve as the principal cellist of the orchestra. Mayes remained in Philadelphia until 1948, when <a href="spotify:artist:4wPH3awoVXijuEmNElbpmt">Koussevitzky</a> invited him to become the principal in the <a href="spotify:artist:0K23lQ2hSQAlxSEeZ05bjI">Boston Symphony Orchestra</a>.

During his Boston years Mayes gave many notable concerts as soloist, among them the 1961 American premiere of the <a href="spotify:artist:46wMXZ6bEoXUlToxUglEtY">Kabalevsky</a> First Cello Concerto, with the composer conducting. Among Mayes' most distinguished <a href="spotify:artist:0K23lQ2hSQAlxSEeZ05bjI">BSO</a> recordings was his account of <a href="spotify:artist:4kHtgiRnpmFIV5Tm4BIs8l">Prokofiev</a>'s challenging Symphony-Concerto for cello and orchestra, issued on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA%22">RCA</a> in 1964.

1964 was also the year he departed Boston to return to the <a href="spotify:artist:6tdexW8bZTG8NgOFUCYQn1">Philadelphia Orchestra</a> as principal cellist, on invitation from <a href="spotify:artist:3naY4Tq98GRh9K8xOsINyv">Eugene Ormandy</a>. Mayes left Philadelphia in 1973 and served one year as principal cellist in the <a href="spotify:artist:6yeL5iw4hXNZtd8T7FOoFU">Los Angeles Philharmonic</a> (1974-1975).

From 1975, Mayes taught cello at the University of Michigan. He was not new to teaching: he had earlier served on the faculties of the New England Conservatory, University of Hartford Hartt School, and other notable music schools. Mayes remained active both as a teacher and performer until his retirement in 1987. Thereafter, he occasionally served as principal in the <a href="spotify:artist:47lbvBv6v9UShnf2jlHcmu">Cincinnati Symphony</a> and Aspen Festival orchestras. He died on August 24, 1990.