Thomas Augustine Arne (1710-1778); ENG

Thomas Augustine Arne (1710–1778) was an English composer whose songs, theatrical works, and instrumental music made him one of the most important native-born figures in eighteenth-century British music. Born in London into a prosperous family, he was intended for a legal career but secretly pursued music, teaching himself keyboard instruments and studying the violin. His early success came with a setting of Joseph Addison's Rosamond in 1733, followed by a long career composing for the London stage. Arne worked extensively at the principal theaters and pleasure gardens of the capital, and his music was performed by leading singers of the day, including his sister Susannah Cibber. He received the degree of Doctor of Music from Oxford University in 1759 and remained active as a composer and theatrical musician until his death in London in 1778.

Arne's music combines Italianate lyricism with a distinctively English gift for melody and an acute sense of theatrical effect. His masque Comus, based on Milton, established his reputation, while Alfred contains the patriotic song Rule, Britannia!, which became his most enduringly famous creation. His opera Artaxerxes, composed to an English translation of Metastasio, was one of the most successful English operas of the eighteenth century and demonstrated his command of contemporary Italian operatic style. Other stage works include The Masque of the Judgement of Paris and Love in a Village. Arne also wrote songs, cantatas, keyboard pieces, concertos, and orchestral music, including a set of overtures that display his fluent instrumental writing. At a time when Handel's influence dominated English musical life, Arne developed an independent voice and played a central role in sustaining a native English tradition of opera, song, and theater music.

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Read biography at allmusic.com.