ARNE, THOMAS AUGUSTINE, a celebrated composer of music, was born in 1710, and was the son of a cele brated upholsterer in King Street, London. After re ceiving a good school education, be was sent to Eton, where his talents for music first began to display them selves. When he returned from this seminary to his father's house, he found some difficulty in gratifying his taste for music ; but having contrived to hide a spinet in his room, and having muffled its strings with his handkerchief, he often practised on this instrument when the rest of the family were asleep. At the parti cular desire of his father, he was articled as an attor ney ; but his love of music was so predominant, and his progress so great, that his father at length consented that he should follow the profession of a musician. Arne began his public career as leader of the band at Drury Lane Theatre. In 1733, he composed the music for Addison's opera of Rosamond, which was performed for ten successive nights with the greatest applause. He afterwards set to music Fielding's burletta of Tom. Thumb, which, under the name of the Opera of Operas, met with great success in the Haymarket. The music
which he composed for Milton's Comus established his fame as a lyric and dramatic composer ; and the ballads, dialogues, ducts, and trios, which were performed with such success at the Vauxhall gardens, were circulated through the kingdom, and improved and polished the national taste.
The translation of Metastasio's opera of ?rtaxerxes was set to music by Arne, and obtained the same cele brity with his other works. In 1740, he composed the music for Mallet's Masque of "lifted, in which the song of Rule Britannia first appeared.
Mr Arne did not succeed in oratorios, nor in the dif ferent musical pieces which he brought forward on the stage. Wandering from his sphere as a musician, he frequently composed the words of those pieces himself; but the excellence of his music could not compensate for want of incident and sentiment. The university of Oxford honoured him with the degree of doctor of mu sic in 1759. He died on the 5th of March 1778, of a spasm of the lungs. (j)