Thomas Robinson (composer)
Thomas Robinson (c. 1560 in England; ? † after 1609) was by 1603 an important composer and music teacher of the English Renaissance. He taught and wrote music for lute, cittern, Orpheoreon, Pandora, viola da gamba and singing.
Curriculum vitae
About his life very little is known only from the text of the discharges of his books one can draw some conclusions on his life. Apparently his father was in the service of the 1st Earl of Salisbury, Robert Cecil, and the young Thomas Robinson in the service of the 1st Earl of Exeter, Thomas Cecil, Robert Cecil's brother. The Cecil family then promoted artists, especially musicians, including William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons.
Later, in any case before 1589, was Thomas Robinson in the Danish Helsingør private music teacher of Princess Anne of Denmark, daughter of King Frederick II, and Queen Sophie. Presumably Thomas Robinson was then about 20 years old, so one suspects his birth to 1560th The Danish court then employed many foreign musicians, including those from England, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Even the most famous lutenist of the English Renaissance, John Dowland, 1598-1606 worked as Hoflautenist in Denmark.
In 1603 Thomas Robinson published the book Medulla Musicke. There is no known copy of it more. Although Thomas Robinson seems in the introduction to his second book, The Schoole of Musicke, to refer to it, even the speculation was expressed ( John M. Ward, see below under " literature " ) that it was possibly never released.
In the same year Thomas Robinson issued his now famous work, The Schoole of Musicke. This was a new textbook primarily for lute, but also for Pandora, Orpheoreon (these two instruments belong to the family of the cittern, but are like a lute tuned ) and for viola da gamba and singing. It was at that time apparently the most important English textbook for Lute in England. It replaced John Alford's book A letters and Easye instrument ( c ) tion of 1574, the English translation by Adrian Le Roy Briefve et facile instruction pour apprendre la tabulature, from after 29 years.
1609 appeared Citharen New Lessons, a textbook for cittern, addressed to beginners and intermediates.
Robinson's works are mostly original songs, some arrangements, some of well-known pieces by John Dowland, such as " My Lord Willoughby 's Welcome Home '" in The Schoole of Musicke, or " Can She Excuse My Wrongs? " In New Citharen Lessons.
About Thomas Robinson's life after 1609 there is no surviving information.
Works
- The Schoole of Musicke ( Tho. Este, London 1603)
- New Citharen Lessons ( London 1609)
- Medulla Musicke (The Stationer 's Company, London 1609) ( not recorded )
- Individual compositions and arrangements Thomas Robinson can also be found outside of his books, in various surviving manuscripts: Spanish Pavan ( in add MS 3056 ( Cozens Lute Book), about 1595, Library of the University of Cambridge. ) - A version in major
- Hay ( in Dd 9:33, 1600, Library of the University of Cambridge )
- Pipers Galliard Jo Dowland. Tho. Robinson ( in Ms. Dd 4.23 Library of the University of Cambridge )
- Galliard TR ( in Ms. Dd 4.23, Library of the University of Cambridge )
- [ The Hunt 's Up ] T: R. ( in Ms. Dd 4.23 Library of the University of Cambridge )