17 Facts About Thomas Arne

Thomas Arne wrote many operatic entertainments for the London theatres and pleasure gardens, as well as concertos, sinfonias, and sonatas.

Thomas Arne came from a long line of Catholic recusants.

Thomas Arne's father earned enough money not only to rent 31 King Street, a large house in Covent Garden, but to have Arne educated at Eton College but in later life, he too lost most of his money and had to supplement his income by acting as a numberer of the boxes at the Drury Lane Theatre.

Thomas Arne was so keen on music that he smuggled a spinet into his room and, damping the sounds with his handkerchief, would secretly practise during the night while the rest of the family slept.

Thomas Arne dressed up as a liveryman to gain access to the gallery of the Italian Opera.

However, Thomas Arne's father discovered his son leading a group of musicians at what was probably one of Festing's musical gatherings.

Between 1733 and 1776, Thomas Arne wrote music for about 90 stage works, including plays, masques, pantomimes, and operas.

Thomas Arne's sister, Susannah Maria Thomas Arne, was a famous contralto, who performed in some of his works, including his first opera, Rosamund.

Thomas Arne was a Freemason and active in the organization, which has long been centred in the Covent Garden area of London, where Thomas Arne lived for many years.

In 1741, Thomas Arne filed a complaint in Chancery pertaining to a breach of musical copyright and claimed that some of his theatrical songs had been printed and sold by Henry Roberts and John Johnson, the London booksellers and music distributors.

Thomas Arne was one of the first composers to have appealed to the law over copyright issues.

In 1742 Thomas Arne went with his wife to Dublin, where he remained two years and produced his oratorio The Death of Abel, of which only the melody known as the Hymn of Eve survives, and some stage works; he gave a number of successful concerts.

Thomas Arne began a relationship with one of his pupils, Charlotte Brent, a soprano and former child prodigy.

In 1769 Thomas Arne composed the song Soft Flowing Avon, with lyrics by Garrick, for the Shakespeare Jubilee held by Garrick in Stratford-upon-Avon to commemorate the life of William Shakespeare.

In 1773, in a performance of Judith Thomas Arne introduced women's voices into the choruses for the first time.

Thomas Arne is considered one of 18th-century Britain's greatest theatrical composers.

Thomas Arne is best remembered for his patriotic song "Rule, Britannia" and for others.