Complete Encyclopaedia of Music/A/Arne, Dr

Arne, Dr. THOMAS AUGUSTINE, was born in 1710, and was the son of Arne, a celebrated upholsterer, in King Street, Covent Garden, at whose house the Indian kings lodged in the reign of Queen Anne, as mentioned in the Spectator, No. 50. Arne had a good education, having been sent to Eton by his father, who intended him for the law. But his love for music operated upon him too powerfully, even while at Eton, for his own peace or that of his companions ; for, with a miserable cracked common flute, he used to torment them night and day, when not obliged to attend the school. When he left Eton, such was Ms passion for music, that he used to avail himself of the privilege of a servant, by borrowing a livery and going into the upper gallery of the opera, which was then appropriated to domestics. At home he contrived to secrete a spinet in his room, upon which, after muffling the strings with a handkerchief, he used to practise in the night while the rest of the family were asleep ; for had his father discovered how he spent his time, he would probably have thrown the instrument out of the window, if not the player. This young votary of Apollo was at length obliged to serve a three years' clerkship to the law, without ever intending to make it his profession ; but even during this servitude he dedicated every moment he could obtain, fairly or otherwise, to the studying composition by himself. He contrived, during his clerkship, to acquire some instructions on the violin, of Festing ; upon which instrument he made so considerable a progress, that soon after he had quitted his legal master, his father, having accidentally called at a gentleman's house in the neighborhood upon business, found him engaged -With company- ; but sending in his name, he was invited up stairs, where there was a large company and a concert, in which, to his great astonishment, he caught his son in the very act of playing the first fiddle ! Finding him more admired for his musical talents than knowledge in the law, he was soon prevailed upon to forgive his unruly passion, and to let him try to turn it to some account. No sooner was the young musician able to practise aloud in his father's house, than he bewitched the whole family. On discovering that his sister was not only fond of music, but had a sweet-toned and touching voice, he gave her such instructions as enabled her to sing for Lampe, in the opera of "Amelia ;" and finding her so well received in that performance, he soon prepared a new character for her, by setting Addison's opera of "Rosamond," in which he employed his younger brother likewise, in the character of the page. The opera was performed ten nights successively, and with great applause, the last time for the benefit of Mr. Arne, Jr., the composer. Having succeeded so well in a serious opera, our young musician tried his powers at a burletta, and fixed upon Fielding's "Tom Thumb" for that purpose, which, under the title of the "Tragedy of Tragedies," having met with great success in 1731, he now got it transformed into the " Opera of Operas," and setting it to music, (after the Italian manner,) had it performed, May 31, at the new theatre in the Haymarket ; the part of Tom Thumb by Master Arne, his brother. In 1738, Arne established his reputation, as a lyric composer, by the admirable manner in which he set Milton's "Comus." In this masque he introduced the light, airy, original, and pleasing melody, wholly different from that of Purcell or Handel, whom all English composers had hither-to pillaged or imitated. Indeed, the melody of Arne at this time, and of his Vauxhall songs afterwards, forms an era in English music ; it was so easy, natural, and agreeable to the whole kingdom, that it had an effect upon the national taste ; and till a more modern Italian style was introduced in the pasticcio of Messrs. Bickerstaff and Cumberland, it was the standard of all perfection at the theatres and public gardens. It was in 1762 that Arne quitted the former style of melody in which he had so well set "Comus," and furnished Vauxhall and the whole kingdom with such songs as improved and polished our mritionol taste; and when he set the bold translarion of Metastasio's opera of "Artaxerxes," he crowded the airs, particularly in the part of Mandane, for Miss Brent, with all the Italian divisions and difficulties had ever been heard at the opera. This drama, by the novelty of the music to English ears, with the talents of Tenducci, Peretti, and the doctor's scholar, Miss Brent, had very great success, and still continues to be represented whenever singers can he found who are possessed of sufficient abilities for its performance. But in setting " Artaxerxes," though the melody is less original than that of "Comus," Arne had the merit of first adapting many of the best passages of Italy, which all Europe admired, to our own language, and of incorporating them with his own property, and with what was still in favor of former English composers. Dr. Arne sold the copyright of "Artaxerxes" for sixty guineas — a sum which, though at present considered inadequate to the value of a good opera, was in his time reckoned a heavy sum for such a property. The general style heavy Dr. Arne's melody, if analyzed, would perhaps appear to be neither Italian nor English, but an agreeable mixture of Italian, English, and Scotch. Many of his ballads, indeed, were professed imitations of the Scotch style ; but in his other songs he frequently dropped into it, perhaps without design. Arne was never a close imitator of Handel, nor thought, by the votaries of that great musician, to be a sound contrapuntist. However, in the science of harmony, though he was chiefly self-taught, yet, being a man of genius, quick parts, and great penetration in his art, he betrayed no ignorance nor want of study in his scores. His oratorios were so unfortunate, that he was a loser whenever they were performed ; and yet it would be unjust to say they did not merit a better fate; for, though the choruses were much inferior in force to those of Handel, yet the airs were frequently admirable. But besides the great reputation of Handel, with whom he had to contend, Arne never was able to have his music so well performed ; as his competitor had always a more numerous and select band, a better organ, which he played himself, and better singers. None of this ingenious and pleasing composer's capital productions had full and unequivocal success but "Comus" and "Artaxerxes," at the distance of twenty-four years from each other. "Rosamond," his first musical drama, produced in 1773, had a few songs in it that were long in favor, and the "Judgment of Paris " many ; but except when his sister, Miss Arne, afterwards Mrs. Cibber, sang in them, he never gained any thing by either. "Thomas and Sally," indeed, as a farce, with very little musical merit, was often acted ; and previous to that, "Eliza" was a little while in favor ; but the number of his unfortunate pieces for the stage was prodigious ; yet none of them were condemned or neglected for want of merit in the music, but in the words, of which the doctor was too frequently guilty of being the author. Upon the whole, though this composer had formed a new style of his own, there did not appear that fertility of ideas, original grandeur of thought, or those resources upon all occasions which are discoverable in the works of his predecessor, Purcell, both for the church and stage ; yet, in secular music, he must be allowed to have surpassed him in ease, grace, and variety, which is no inconsiderable praise, when it is remembered that from the death of Purcell to that of Arne, a period of more than fourscore years, no candidate for musical fame had appeared, who was equally admired by the nation at large. Dr. Arne died in 1778. Of near one hundred and fifty musical pieces that were brought on the stage at the national theatres within forty years after his death, thirty of them, at least, were set by Arne. A modern critic, of high authority, thus speaks of Arne : "He was a singular instance of that predestinate taste, which is to be accounted for only by peculiar organization, the existence of which, among other less splendid instances, has been since confirmed by Crotch, Himmel, and Mozart. His first stealthy acquisitions in musical science, made chiefly during the night, contrary to the direction of the principal pursuit of his life, and in opposition to the will of his father, are proofs of that irresistible propensity by which genius, perhaps universally, governs its possessors. This was the pure and unbought love of the art, generated by the pleasurable perception of sweet sounds ; for although Handel's operas had begun to draw the attention of the public, Arne was too young either to comprehend or to covet the chances of profitable exertion, when he resorted to the means by which he obtained the first rudiments of his future professional skill. Perhaps the highest testimony that Arne's music has obtained from time has been the continued reception of 'Artaxerxes,' against the universal sense and feeling of dramatic effect. Excellent and attractive indeed must the airs be that can atone to English sentiments and habits for the recitative and consequent destruction of all interest in the language, the incidents, and the plot. It is sufficient that scarcely a second attempt of the kind has been since made. There was in Arne's compositions a natural ease and elegance, a flow of melody which stole upon the senses, and a fulness and variety in the harmony, which satisfied, without surprising, the auditor by any new, affected, or extraneous modulation. He had neither the vigor of Purcell, nor the grandeur, simplicity, and magnificence of Handel; he apparently aimed at pleasing, and he has fully succeeded. The fault of 'Artaxerxes,' if we may be allowed to complain of an almost faultless performance, is the level uniformity that pervades the entire piece. It is sweet, elegant, and appropriate ; but the songs of most pretension do not strongly affect or carry the hearer away. It was allotted to Arne first to give to English singers passages of execution which equalled, in point of difficulty and compass, those that had only been heard from Italians of the best school. In the present reign of brilliant execution, it is hardly possible to find songs of more crowded notation. 'Fly soft ideas,' and The Soldier tired,' are still indeed amongst the standard airs of agility in concerts ; and the en-tire character of Mandane has been, ever since Arne's time, the universal trial of an English singer's abilities. With this composer ended the accession of new principles to the art of dramatic writing. Whatever of novelty has since been appended to our musical drama will not be found to sink beyond the original cast which particular composers have given to their air or accompaniment. Arne's use of instruments was certainly delicate, but he is neither so scientific nor powerful as later composers. We perceive from the score of 'Artaxerxes,' that he employs the hautboys principally, the flutes seldom, and the clarinets in two songs only. In the beautiful air of 'If o'er the.cruel tyrant,' the violins are generally in unison with the voice. We dislike this mode of accompaniment upon principle ; it adds nothing to the harmony, and is disagreeable both to the singer and the hearer; for if the precise accord be by any means broken, (and who can insure it in the various necessities of breathing, speaking, &c. ?) the effect is interrupted and diminished ; delicate and tasteful are, however, the epithets which characterize Arne's instrumentation, as perhaps they best describe the attributes of his style and manner." (Mus. Rev. vol. i. p. 201.)