Life
Thomas Robinson was an English Renaissance lutenist and composer active from around 1589 to 1610, though his exact birth and death dates are unknown. He and his father served the Cecil family, with Thomas Robinson employed by Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, and evidence suggests he also worked in Denmark, teaching lute to Princess Anne (later queen consort of England) and Queen Sophie at Elsinore before 1589. In 1603 he published The Schoole of Musicke, an influential tutor for lute, orpharion, bandora, and viol that displaced an older continental-derived method as the standard English text. In 1609 he issued New Citharen Lessons, a substantial tutor and repertoire collection for the cittern. No further records of his life survive after 1609.
Impact
Robinson’s The Schoole of Musicke displaced earlier continental-derived tutors as the standard English method for lute, orpharion, and bandora, shaping how a generation of English amateurs learned to play. His duets for two lutes, including Twenty Waies upon the Bells and The Queenes Good Night, remain staples of the Renaissance lute-duet repertoire, while New Citharen Lessons is one of the richest surviving sources for early English cittern music, giving Robinson lasting significance beyond his otherwise slender biography.
Repertoire
A Galliard (from The Schoole of Musicke), 1603
A galliard from Robinson’s landmark 1603 lute tutor, the first wholly English-language method book for the instrument.
A Galliard – The Schoole of Musicke (T. Robinson) – Lute, Fabrício Melo — Performed by Fabrício Melo · lute
A Toy for Two Lutes, 1603
A charming duo piece from The Schoole of Musicke, written to let a teacher and student play together as part of Robinson’s instructional method.
Thomas Robinson – A Toy. Marco Saccardin, Marina Belova – lutes. — Performed by Marco Saccardin & Marina Belova · lute duo
A Toy for two lutes by Thomas Robinson — Performed by Michael Fields · lute duo
Fantasia for Two Lutes, 1603
A contrapuntal duo fantasia from The Schoole of Musicke, demonstrating Robinson’s ambitions beyond simple pedagogical dances.
Fantasia for two lutes: Thomas Robinson — Performed by Jamie Akers · lute duo
Bonny Sweet Boy, c. 1603
A lute setting of a popular Elizabethan tune, reflecting Robinson’s engagement with the ballad and song repertoire of his day.
Bonny Sweet Boy (Thomas Robinson), Lute — Performed by Michael Vollbrecht · lute