Arne, Thomas

Arne, Thomas

▪ British composer
in full  Thomas Augustine Arne 
born March 12, 1710, London
died March 5, 1778, London

      English composer, chiefly of dramatic music and song.

      According to tradition, Arne was the son of an upholsterer in King Street, Covent Garden. Educated at Eton, he was intended for the law, but by secretly practicing he acquired such mastery of the violin and keyboard instruments that his father withdrew all objections to a musical career. Except for some lessons from Michael Festing, later leader of the Italian Opera orchestra, Arne was self-taught, and it was at the Opera (which he attended in a footman's livery to obtain free admission) that his musical taste was largely formed. He taught both his sister, later famous as the actress Mrs. Cibber, and his young brother to sing, and they appeared in his first stage work, Rosamond (1733). This opera, based on Joseph Addison's libretto of 1707, was set “after the Italian manner,” and its bravura air “Rise, Glory, Rise” was sung for the next 40 years.

      Arne was soon engaged to write musical afterpieces and incidental music for Drury Lane Theatre, and with Comus (1738), John Dalton's adaptation of Milton's masque, he became established as the leading English lyric composer. His light, airy, pleasing melodic style was apparent in Alfred, a Masque (notable for “Rule, Britannia”) and The Judgment of Paris, both produced at the Prince of Wales's residence at Cliveden in 1740. Arne's settings of Shakespeare's songs, written for revivals of As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and The Merchant of Venice in 1740–41, provide the culmination of this early style.

      In about 1744, after spending two years in Dublin (owing largely to family troubles), Arne was engaged as composer to Drury Lane Theatre and Vauxhall Gardens, taking on the young Charles Burney (Burney, Charles) as an apprentice. During the next decade Arne published a number of song collections. In 1759 he was made doctor of music at Oxford, and two years later his oratorio Judith was produced, followed by the opera Artaxerxes (1762), which held the stage until the early 19th century.

      In the final decade of his life, Arne set Garrick's ode for the Stratford Shakespeare jubilee of 1769 and composed music for The Fairy Prince (1771), Mason's Elfrida (1772), and Caractacus (1776).

      Arne's early melodic style was natural and elegant, owing something to Scots, Irish, and Italian sources. His later music became more Italianate and ornamented, though in his final years there emerged an opera buffa style that anticipates Sullivan. As the composer of such melodies as “Rule, Britannia,” “Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind,” and “Where the Bee Sucks,” Arne, like Henry Purcell, added substantially to the English heritage of song. He is generally regarded as the most important English composer of the 18th century

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Arne, Thomas Augustine — • Brief biography of the eighteenth century English composer Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Arne,Thomas Augustine — Arne (ärn), Thomas Augustine. 1710 1778. British composer noted for his songs, oratorios, and operas, including Alfred (1740), which introduced the song “Rule, Britannia.” * * * …   Universalium

  • Arne, Thomas Augustine — born March 12, 1710, London, Eng. died March 5, 1778, London British composer. Son of a London upholsterer, he secretly taught himself instrumental skills and composition with the help of an opera musician. Smitten by the opera, he had an early… …   Universalium

  • ARNE, THOMAS AUGUSTINE —    a musical composer of versatile genius, produced, during over 40 years, a succession of pieces in every style from songs to sonatas and oratorios, among others the world famous chorus Rule Britannia ; Mrs. Cibber was his sister (1719 1778) …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Thomas Arne — painted by Johann Zoffany Thomas Augustine Arne (12 March 1710 – 5 March 1778) was a British composer, best known for the patriotic song Rule, Britannia!. He also wrote a version of God Save the King, which was to become the British national… …   Wikipedia

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  • Thomas Arne — Thomas Augustine Arne (* 28. Mai 1710 in London; † 5. März 1778 in London) war einer der bedeutendsten Komponisten Englands. Er war ursprünglich zum Juristen bestimmt, studierte nebenbei Violinspiel bei Michael Christ …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Thomas Augustine Arne — Thomas Arne Thomas Augustine Arne (* 28. Mai 1710 in London; † 5. März 1778 ebendort) war einer der bedeutendsten Komponisten Englands. Er war ursprünglich zum Juristen bestimmt, studierte nebenbei Violinspiel bei Michael Christian Festing und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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