Thomas Robinson

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For other persons named Thomas Robinson, see Thomas Robinson (disambiguation).

Thomas Robinson (c. 1560 – after 1609? (Julian calendar)) was an English renaissance composer and music teacher, who flourished around 1600. He tought and wrote music for lute, cittern, orpharion, bandora, viol, und singing.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Very little is known about Thomas Robinson's life, but it is possible to draw conclusions from the dedicatory pages of his works. He and his his father were in service of the Cecil family: Robinson's father worked for the 1st Earl of Salisbury, Robert Cecil, and Thomas was in the service of the 1st Earl of Exeter, Thomas Cecil, who was Robert Cecil's brother. The Cecil family fostered several artists in these days, amongst others William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons.

It was before 1589 that Thomas Robinson became Princess Anne's (1574-1619) and Queen Sophie's (1557-1631) private music teacher at Elsinore, Danmark. Princess Anne was the doughter of the King of Danmark, Frederick II (1559-1588). It is presumed that Thomas Robinson must have been in his twenties then, so that his birth can be dated back to around 1560.

The Court of Danmark, like other courts, employed many well-recognized musicians from Danmark and other countries, like England, France, Germany and the Netherlands. It is known that John Dowland - the most famous renaissance lutenist nowadays - worked as a court lutenist in Danmark from 1598 to 1606. Besides from Robinsons's own mention about his employment there no official record of that exists.

In 1603 Thomas Robinson published his first book, Medulla Musicke, of which no copy survived. It was even suggested (Ward JM, see "Literature"), that it was never published at all, although Robinson seems to be referring to it in the first pages of his second book: Right courteous Gentlemen, and gentle Readers, your fauourable acceptance of my first fruits from idlenesse, hath eccited mee further to congratulate your Musicall endeauours. [...] From: "The Schoole of Musicke", 1603

Also in 1603, Robinson brought out his second book, The Schoole of Musicke, a tutor for lute and other instruments. It displaced John Alford's book A Briefe and Easye Instru(c)tion from 1574 (an English translation of Adrian Le Roy's Briefve et facile instruction pour apprendre la tabulature) as most important lute tutor in England from then on.

In 1609 Robinson's third book, New Citharen Lessons, was published. It was a cittern tutor for beginners and advanced learners.

Thomas Robinson's works for the most part consist of in his own compositions. But there are also arrangements of other pieces of music, some of which are still rather popular: for instance "My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home" (in: The Schoole of Musicke) or "Can She Excuse My Wrongs?" (in New Citharen Lessons) - both originally composed by John Dowland.

There is no further information available about Thomas Robinson's life after 1609.

[edit] Works

[edit] Bibliography

  • Lumsden, David (pub.) Thomas Robinson: The Schoole of Musicke. Paris, Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1971, ISBN 2-222-01343-7
  • William Casey (pub.), Alfredo Colman (pub.), Thomas Robinson: New Citharen Lessons (1609), 1997 Baylor University Press, Waco, Texas, ISBN 0-918954-65-7
  • John M Ward, Sprightly and Cheerful Musick: Notes on the Cittern, Gittern & Guitar in 16th- & 17th-Century England in: The Lute Society Journal 21 (1979-81): 69-70

[edit] Weblinks

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