Robinson was born in
Leeds, to a musical family. His father and grandfather were both organists and choirmasters, and his mother was a singer. He was named after the composer Sir
Charles Villiers Stanford. He was educated at the
Stationers' Company's School, leaving at the age of 15 and earning his living as a pianist at cinemas and restaurants. While still at the College he took part in a
BBC broadcast with the Wireless Orchestra, the forerunner of the
BBC Symphony Orchestra. From 1924 to 1966, Robinson was on the staff of the BBC. Until 1932 he was the BBC's first chorus master, in which capacity he established and developed the
Wireless Chorus and Wireless Singers (now the BBC Singers) and the
BBC National Chorus (now the BBC Symphony Chorus). He first appeared at
the Proms in 1929, conducting the combined BBC choral groups in
Delius's On Craig Dhu. He conducted at the Proms for the next two seasons, but not again until 1947. From 1932 to 1946 Robinson was conductor of the BBC Theatre Orchestra, during which time he worked closely with
Eric Coates, and director of music productions from 1936 to 1946. Away from his BBC work, he made his
Covent Garden debut in 1937, conducting
Die Fledermaus.
The Times commented that if Robinson "did not always get the true Viennese swing of the waltz rhythms" he "kept the music gaily moving." The following year he returned to the Royal Opera House to conduct
Faust with
Heddle Nash,
Lisa Perli and
Harold Williams. From 1946 to 1949, Robinson was the BBC's opera director and associate conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 1947, he was appointed assistant conductor of the Proms, and conducted them regularly from then until 1950. He worked with the
English Opera Group, introducing
Britten's
The Rape of Lucretia to London in 1947. and church works including settings of the
Magnificat and the
Nunc Dimittis.
Recordings Robinson made many recordings, of which probably the best known is
Eva Turner's 1928 recording of "In questa reggia" from
Puccini's
Turandot, on which Robinson conducts an unnamed orchestra. For
Decca he recorded a series of discs of popular classics, which were highly praised by
The Gramophone. With BBC forces Robinson made the first gramophone recording of
Mendelssohn's Elijah in 1930. In 2007,
Alan Blyth, the critic of
Gramophone magazine, wrote that it remained "one of the most convincing" and that Robinson "gives the work the dramatic verve that it calls for". Robinson's LP recording of his
Savoy Dances was reissued on CD.
Personal life In 1926, Robinson married the singer Mavis Bennett; the marriage was unhappy, and by 1931 they were separated. Robinson later married the soprano Lorely Dyer; they had one daughter. In 1972 Robinson was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the
Order of the British Empire. Robinson died in Brighton in 1984, aged 80. ==Notes==