His birth date is uncertain. He was baptized on May 28, but his actual birthday is usually given as March 12.

Arne was a distinguished keyboardist and composer in 18th century England. He was the leading figure in the theatrical music of England after the death of Handel, and was also a recognized teacher, with Charles Burney as his most famous student. As a composer his strength was his sense of melody.

He attempted to establish English opera "in the Italian style," not with a great deal of success. He wasn’t the first to try such a mixture of styles, but his Artaxerxes was the only hybrid of this type to survive into the 19th century. His sole opera in Italian was a failure.

A great deal of his musical output is contained in pasticcios and English theater pieces and comic operas. In addition to his theatrical works, he also wrote a few sacred pieces, several harpsichord "lessons," and harpsichord and organ concertos for his son to play.

As a person, Arne lacked several desirable traits. In general terms, he was not a nice man. He was tight with money and his family life was often rocky. He was sometimes harsh in his treatment of his sister, the well-known singer Susannah Cibber. By 1754, his marriage had reached its snapping point, and it was agreed that Mrs Arne, also a singer, would remain in Dublin while Arne returned to London, he having agreed to provide her with forty pounds a year. When he ran into financial difficulties, she threatened legal procedings. It was, for many years, not a happy union; however, the two of them were reconciled in October of 1777, five months before Arne died. In his will he left everything to "my beloved wife Cecilia and my only son Michael."

(contribution by Keith Knop <KNOKE@rhodes.edu>)