Thomas Arne was at one time regarded as second only to
Handel among English composers (if Handel’s German birth is disregarded).
However, he is only remembered today for one relatively short piece that was
the finale of a much longer work that is now ignored.
Thomas Augustine Arne was born on 12th March
1710, the son of a successful upholsterer in London’s Covent Garden. Thomas was
educated at Eton and intended by his father for a career in law. However,
Thomas was far more interested in music and the theatre, and secretly practiced
on the spinet (a variety of harpsichord) in his bedroom, muffling the strings
to escape parental detection when he should have been concentrating on his law
books.
He also became proficient on the violin and led a small chamber
band, again without his father’s knowledge. When his father eventually found
out he was forgiven because he played so well.
Thomas must have been disconcerted by the fact that his
sister Susanna was able to have a stage career as a noted contralto. However,
this was the key to opening his own association with the theatre because he
felt inspired to compose music for the stage after Susanna’s success in an
opera in 1732.
His first operas were clearly well received, because he went
on to write music to accompany a performance of Milton’s masque “Comus” in
1740. This was followed in the same year by “Alfred”, a masque written to
celebrate the Royal House of Hanover and performed for the Prince of Wales at
Cliveden, the Prince’s country residence. Frederick Prince of Wales was the
eldest son of King George II and the father of the future King George III. He
was a noted patron of the arts and Thomas Arne became his favourite composer.
The best remembered part of “Alfred” was the finale, which
set the words of “Rule Britannia” (by James Thomson) to the tune that is still
sung to this day every year at the Last Night of the Proms. Indeed, were it not
for that particular piece of patriotic enthusiasm it is probable that the name
of Thomas Arne would not be remembered at all.
Arne spent some time in Dublin during the 1750s and 1760s, a
period that is notable for the oratorio “Abel” and the fact that he returned
from his second visit after separating from his second wife, whom he left
behind in Ireland.
One of Arne’s innovations was to present operas in the
Italian style, with sung recitative instead of spoken dialogue. This proved to
be a success, but his experiment of presenting operas in the original Italian of
their source texts did not prove popular.
Apart from operas and oratorios, Arne wrote a large amount
of incidental music, including noted settings of Shakespeare songs, catches,
glees and instrumental pieces.
Thomas Arne died on 8th March 1778 at the age of nearly 68.
© John Welford
