Fanny Arthur Robinson (September 1831 – 31 October 1879) was an English

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, music educator and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

who spent most of her career in Dublin, Ireland.

Biography

Fanny Robinson was born in Southampton and studied the piano in London with

William Sterndale Bennett Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 18161 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. B ...

and

Sigismund Thalberg Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Family Thalberg was born in Pâquis near Geneva on 8 January 1812. Thalberg asserted that he ...

. She performed in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in February 1849 where she met her future husband

Joseph Robinson Joseph Robinson may refer to: * Joseph Robinson (loyalist) (c. 1742–1807), judge and politician in Prince Edward Island prior to the confederation of present-day Canada * Joseph Robinson (composer) (1815–1898), Irish composer, conductor, and te ...

, conductor, composer and chorister at St. Patrick's Cathedral. They married on 17 July 1849. She appeared as a pianist in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and in 1856 made her performing debut in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. She took a teaching position at the

Royal Irish Academy of Music Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roy ...

in the same year. She remained active as pianist and composer until her early death in Dublin in 1879. Robinson was one of the few female composers of her time whose music was published and performed. Her cantata ''God is Love'' was her most frequently performed work during her lifetime; occasionally, excerpts were performed like anthems in the Dublin cathedrals. Her piano music is typical for the Victorian music of her time: very melodic, simple in its harmonic design, yet attractive and well-written for her instrument. Typically of Victorian times, however, her music was not published as by "Fanny Robinson" but by "Mrs. Joseph Robinson". Her life was overshadowed by depression, and she took her life at the age of 48.

Selected compositions

*''God is Love'', cantata for mixed chorus (c.1869) PianoSources: online catalogues of the British Library, London, and Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin. *''Sentiments'' (1853) *''The Haymakers''. Caprice pastorale (1855) *''A Dream''. Melody (1864) *''Constancy''. Melody (1864) *''Elf Land''. Presto scherzando (1864) *''The Hunt''. Morceau de salon (1864) *''The Village Fête''. Morceau de salon (1864) *''May Morning''. A Sketch (1865) *''Infant Smiles'' (1868) *''Laughing Water''. Rondino (1870) *''Evening Thoughts''. Impromptu (1873) *''Hopes and Fears''. Allegro brillante (1876) *''The Thrush's Song''. Pensée musicale (1877) *''Fête rustique''. Morceau du salon (Paris, n.d.) *''Stella''. Valse brillante (Dublin, n.d.) *''The Song of the Mill-wheel'' (London, n.d.)

Recording

*''Constancy'', performed by Alan Etherden (piano), on: Hunters Moon Promotions HMPCD 0183, CD (1989).

Bibliography

*Caitríona Doran: ''The Robinsons. A Nineteenth-Century Dublin Family of Musicians and their Contribution towards Musical Life in Dublin'' (unpublished MA thesis, NUI Maynooth, 1998); se
SMI Music Thesis Register.
*Richard Pine: ''To Talent Alone. The Royal Irish Academy of Music 1848–1998'' (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1998), . *Jennifer O'Connor: "Women and Music in Nineteenth-Century Dublin", in: ''Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music'', 15.1 (Spring 2009), p. 12–17.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Fanny Arthur 1831 births 1879 deaths 1870s suicides 19th-century English classical composers 19th-century English women composers Composers for piano Irish classical composers Irish women classical composers Irish music educators Musicians from Southampton Irish women music educators English women classical composers English women music educators British music educators English women pianists