Arne composed music. The advertisement announced: "Act the 2nd. A
Duetto between Mr. Sadler and Mr. Butler, accompanied with French
Horns, etc., called The Death of the Stag. The Music composed by
Mr. Arne!" At the end of the play "by particular desire" Miss Brent
sang, "Where the bee sucks." The duet with French horns was doubtless
composed to exhibit the skill of "Mr. Charles and his Second." On
the 5th of May, Miss Spencer had a benefit at the Theatre, when she
introduced "A new Ballad call'd Kitty, or the Female Phaeton; the
words by Prior, set by Mr. Arne." This song became a favourite at
Ranelagh Gardens. Mrs. Arne contemplated giving a benefit concert
and ball in May; the programme was to include music from Arne's
"Alfred," but after several advertisements and postponements, it was
announced that "Mrs. Arne is obliged to acquaint the Public that Mr.
Arne (by Desire) intending one capital Performance of Alfred before
his Departure from this Kingdom, she will make no other Benefit on
her own Account, and those Tickets which are disposed of among her
Friends will be then taken, on paying the additional Price." Subsequent
advertisement announced: "By Special Command of their Excellencies
the Lords Justices.--For the Benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Arne. At the
Great Music-hall in Fishamble-street, on Tuesday, the 25th of this
Inst., May, will be performed, in the Manner of an Oratorio, Alfred
the Great, composed by Mr. Arne, at the special command of His late
Royal Highness, Frederic, Prince of Wales, and originally performed in
his Palace at Cliefdon. Mr. Arne will accompany the Performance on the
Harpsichord, and Mr. Walsh will perform a Concerto on the Organ. The
Vocal Parts to be performed by Mrs. Arne, Mr. Sadler, Miss Brent, Miss
Spencer, Miss Young and Miss Polly Young. Ticket, a British Crown. All
outstanding Tickets, for the Opera of Eliza and the Tickets delivered
by Mrs. Arne, will be taken. After the Performance (by Desire) will be
a Ball, conducted in the most elegant Manner, on Account of which the
Performance will begin at Seven. Tickets to be had only of Mr. Arne, at
the Passage Door next the Golden Scales, in Fishamble-street."
[Illustration: ARNE, BY BARTOLOZZI.]
After this performance in 1756, Arne appears to have left Dublin,
and probably never revisited that city. Mrs. Arne remained in Dublin
with her niece, Miss Polly Young, who had a benefit at the Smock
Alley Theatre on the 8th of July, and was assisted by Miss Young
and Miss Brent. The Youngs sang also at a benefit concert given for
Miss Polly Young, at Marborough Green, on the 7th of September. It
seems pretty clear that Arne deserted his wife at this time, and
that the fact soon became known to many in Dublin. An "Assembly" was
announced for her benefit early in December, but was postponed from
time to time; finally, the _Journal_, March 5-8, 1767, announced:
"Mrs. Arne, having opened the Music-Hall in Fishamble-Street for
her Benefit on Saturday the 12th of Feb., under great Disadvantages,
is advised by her Friends (who had Notice of that Night, _and are
sensible of her Losses_) to fix on Thursday, the 10th of March, for
her Benefit and Miss Young's, when the Ladies and Gentlemen who will
honour them with their Company, may depend they shall on no Account
be disappointed.--N.B. The Tickets given out for the different Nights
she has advertised will be taken, and others had of Mrs. Arne, at her
Lodgings in Aungier-street and at the Music-Hall. Price 5s. 6d." Later
in the year (April 24th) Mrs. Arne and Miss Young gave a concert.
Allusion has already been made to Mrs. Arne's frequent attacks of
indisposition, and it is reasonable to think that her husband's
conduct would have a grave effect on her health and spirits. She seems
to have relinquished public performance for a time and retired into
private life. A very interesting glimpse of her is to be found in "The
Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany."
Writing to her sister, Mrs. Dewes, from Mount Panther, County Down,
on the 8th of August, 1758, she said: "On Saturday we dined at Mr.
Bayly's; Miss Bayly had gone on a party of pleasure. I was surprised
there at meeting Mrs. Arne (Miss Young that was); they have her in the
house to teach Miss Bayly to sing; she was recommended to Mr. Bayly
by Mrs. Berkeley as an object of compassion. She looks, indeed, much
humbled, and I hope is as deserving as they think her to be; great
allowances are to be made for the temptations those poor people fall
under. She has been severely used by a bad husband, and suffered to
starve, if she had not met with charitable people. She behaves herself
very well, and though her voice has lost its bloom as well as her
face, she sings well, and was well taught by Geminiani and Handel, and
had she not been idle would have been a charming singer. Mr. Bayly
plays on the violin, his curate on the German flute; Mrs. Arne and
Miss Bayly sing, and a girl of nine years old[15] accompanies them
on the harpsichord most surprisingly; she is a niece of Mrs. Arne's;
the race of the Youngs are _born_ songsters and musicians. It is very
agreeable to have such an entertainment in our power to go to whenever
we please." Poor Mrs. Arne! humbled, half-starved, deserted by her
husband, losing her good looks, and the bloom of her voice, sings well,
and if she had not been idle would have been a charming singer! Mrs.
Delany, a gifted and kind-hearted woman, was evidently ignorant of the
fact that the lady she criticised was forty-seven years of age, and had
been constantly before the public, as a vocalist, for twenty-six years.
In the following January, 1759, Mrs. Arne and Miss Young were residing
together in Dublin, at Mrs. Rowe's, in Drogheda Street. A Grand concert
of Vocal and Instrumental Musick, followed by a Ball, was given for
Mrs. Arne's Benefit at the Fishamble Street Music Hall on the 6th
of March, when both appeared and sang; another benefit performance
for Mrs. Arne was given on the 17th of April, when "Much ado about
Nothing" was performed. Miss Young, Mrs. Storer and Mr. Wilder
were the vocalists. A benefit concert and ball, for Mrs. Arne, was
given on the 10th of December; she had then removed to "Mrs. Lee's,
in William-street." It is significant that she did not sing on this
occasion, nor is there any evidence of her appearing again before the
Dublin public; a Grand Ball was announced for the Benefit of Mrs.
Arne and Miss Young at the Fishamble Street Music Hall on the 25th of
November, when it was stated: "Before the Minuets Miss Young will sing
some capital Songs, accompanied by herself on the Harpsichord."
Mr. Arne had been fully engaged in the various gardens and theatres
in London. At Covent Garden "Cymbeline" was produced, with songs by
him. His pupil, Miss Brent, had appeared at Drury Lane Theatre, in his
opera "Eliza," on March the 3rd, 1758, and at Covent Garden on the
10th of October, 1759, as Polly, in the "Beggar's Opera." On the 6th
of July, 1759, the University of Oxford conferred upon Arne the degree
of "Doctor in Music."[16] It is said that he composed an Ode which he
submitted to the authorities; but no copy of it is known to exist.
In 1760, on the 28th of November, Dr. Arne's musical entertainment
"Thomas and Sally," written by Bickerstaff, was produced at Covent
Garden Theatre. Miss Brent made a great success both as singer and
actress; the other vocalists included Mr. Beard, Mrs. Vernon, and Mr.
Mattocks. The piece obtained immediate and lasting popularity. The
music was published with the following title: "Thomas and Sally, or
the Sailor's Return, a Dramatic Pastoral, with the Overture in score,
songs, dialogues, duettos and dance tunes, as performed at the Theatre
Royal in Covent Garden by Mr. Beard and Miss Brent, Mr. Mattocks,
Mrs. Vernon, and chorus. The music compos'd by Doctr. Arne. London
Printed for J. Walsh, in Catherine Street, in the Strand. Enter'd at
Stationers' Hall."
In 1761, on the 27th of February, at Drury Lane Theatre, Arne brought
out his oratorio "Judith," one of his most important compositions.
The _Public Advertiser_ of the above date, announced: "At the Theatre
Royal in Drury-Lane, This Day, will be performed a new Sacred Oratorio
call'd JUDITH. The Music composed by Dr. Arne, with a Concerto on the
Organ. Pit and Boxes will be laid together at Half a Guinea. First
Gallery 5s. Upper Gallery 3s. 6d. Tickets for the Pit and Boxes may
be had of Mr. Varney, at the Stage-Door of the Theatre. To begin at
half an hour after Six o'clock." The following day a brief notice
appeared in the same journal, which said: "Last Night the new sacred
Oratorio call'd _Judith_, was performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury
Lane, to a most polite Audience, who gave it the greatest Approbation
and Applause ever known, on the Occasion." Evidence of the success
of the oratorio is the repetition of it on the 4th and 6th of March.
It was also again performed in Lenten season of 1762 at the theatre.
In 1764, on February 29th, it was performed at the Chapel of the
Lock Hospital, Grosvenor Place, Pimlico, on behalf of the funds of
the charity. A more notable repetition took place at Covent Garden
Theatre on the 26th of February 1773, when for the first time ladies
formed a part of the chorus; before this time the treble chorus was
confined to boys' voices. This happy innovation of Dr. Arne's was
well received; the _Public Advertiser_ said: "The Oratorio of Judith,
composed by Dr. Arne, which was performed at the Theatre Royal in
Covent Garden, yesterday evening, was received with uncommon Applause.
The principal singers acquitted themselves to the utmost Satisfaction
of the Audience. Mr. Barthelemon was greatly admired in his Solo on
the Violin, and too much cannot be said of Signor Spandau's Concerto
on the French Horn, as it surpassed any Performance on that Instrument
hitherto heard in this Country. The striking Appearance of the Band
and Chorus, which were much more numerous than they usually have been,
received a most pleasing Addition from the Female Singers, then first
introduced." It is somewhat remarkable that the Pianoforte was first
used in public as an accompaniment for the voice when a song from
"Judith" was sung at Covent Garden Theatre by Miss Brickler on the
16th of May, 1767. The playbill announced that after the first Act of
the "Beggar's Opera," "Miss Brickler will sing a favourite song from
Judith, accompanied by Mr. Dibdin, on a new instrument called Piano
Forte." The published score of the music of "Judith" has for title,
"Judith an Oratorio as it is Perform'd at the Theatre-Royal in Drury
Lane, Compos'd by Dr. Arne, London. Printed for J. Walsh in Catherine
Street in the Strand." This volume unfortunately does not contain a
single chorus. The Overture is scored for Strings, Hautboys, Bassoon
and Horns. It opens with a spirited Allegro, followed by a short
Andante movement for strings only; the other instruments resume in
the final Allegro Moderato. A solo, "Wake, my harp," which was sung
by Mrs. Cornelys, is accompanied by strings, violins pizzicato, harp
and harpsichord in a very effective manner. In an air, "Haste to the
gardens of delight," sung by Mr. Tenducci, two flutes are added to the
orchestration; and in another air, "With heroes and sages," also sung
by Tenducci, we find the bassoons have parts independent of the basses,
a somewhat novel departure at the period when Arne wrote. An air,
"No more the Heathen shall blaspheme," sung by Mr. Fawcett, has the
novel accompaniment of two violoncellos and bass; no other instruments
until the last four bars of symphony, when the violins are introduced.
Fortunately the composer's autograph score exists in the British
Museum, and in that we find much of interest. It exemplifies in some
degree the well-known haste and carelessness of the composer; there
are sundry memoranda, such as "take care of the Instrumental parts
where I have mistaken the lines," "Bassoons in semibriefs," &c. The
choruses are in this case his own; there was no borrowing from Handel.
The first, "Father of mercies," is short--only thirty-seven bars. The
next, "When Israel wept," is also short and good. "Hear, angels, hear"
extends to one hundred and twenty-six bars; "Hail, immortal Bacchus,"
eighty-five bars; "Prepare the genial bower," eighty-seven bars; and
the next, a very fine chorus, "Who can Jehovah's wrath abide," one
hundred and eight bars; "Breathe the pipe," sixty-two bars; and the
last chorus, "Here, sons of Jacob," written in five vocal parts for
soprano, alto, tenor and bass, sixty-four bars. Dr. Arne was remarkable
for his deficient memory respecting things trifling in themselves, yet
sometimes of considerable consequence as connected with other matters.
If he made an appointment to meet a friend, whether for the purpose
of business or amusement, he would probably mistake the day; if he
wrote an order for the theatre, it was equally probable that the play
would be misnamed, or that the frank would bear a wrong date. On one
occasion, when he had prepared an elaborate Ode, he had it rehearsed,
and announced the day for its public performance. The great room at
the Crown and Anchor[17] was crowded with company impatiently waiting
for their expected gratification. Arne arrived at the tavern-door
in a fiacre, leaped out with the score under his arm, and left the
parts behind him. When the doctor discovered his neglect, he was in
the condition of a madman. Persons were dispatched in all directions
in search of the coach, but it could not be found; and the band and
company were subjected to the mortification of being dismissed--the
first without performing, and the latter without hearing, a note of
the prepared Ode. Could this have been the Ode which, it is said,
he composed as an exercise for his degree? Arne, by his connection
with the theatres, had constant opportunities for cultivating the
acquaintance of Italian singers, and of keeping up his knowledge of the
Italian language; he was evidently influenced in his later compositions
by this familiarity. The simplicity of his melodies became disfigured
by excessive ornamentation, and was the subject of adverse criticism.
The scurrilous poet, Churchill, in 1761, published the "Rosciad," a
satire on actors, in which he violently attacked Arne:
Let Tommy Arne, with usual pomp of style,
Whose chief, whose only merit's to compile,
Who, meanly pilfering here and there a bit,
Deals music out, as Murphy deals out wit;
Publish proposals, laws for taste prescribe,
And chaunt the praise of an Italian tribe;
Let him reverse Kind Nature's first decrees,
And teach e'en Brent a method not to please:
But never shall a truly British age
Bear a vile race of eunuchs on the stage:
The boasted work's called national in vain,
If one Italian voice pollute the strain.
Where tyrants rule, and slaves with joy obey,
Let slavish minstrels pour th' enervate lay;
To Britons far more noble pleasures spring
In native note, while Beard and Vincent sing.
Arne's Italian proclivities induced him to translate Metastasio's drama
"Artaserse," and to transform it into an Opera on the accepted Italian
mode, without dialogue. This he did successfully; the recitatives,
however, are long and dreary, and the poetry is by no means of a high
order. For instance, a very favourite air reads:
Water parted from the sea,
May increase the river's tide;
To the bubbling fount may flee
Or thro' fertile valleys glide:
Yet in search of lost repose,
Doom'd, like me, forlorn to roam,
Still it murmurs as it flows,
Till it reach its native home.
The music of "Artaxerxes" has much charm, and presents excellent
harmonization in the accompaniments, which are scored for strings,
flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, and drums. In
two of the pieces the violetta is employed; there are also two violas
obbligato, but as was usual with Arne there is no instance of a general
ensemble of the instruments employed. In the Air "O too lovely," sung
by Tenducci, the violins and basses are marked "_Sordini e Pizzicati_."
The vocal music is quite overladen with ornament, and the compass
required for the several voice parts is generally excessive. The opera
was produced at Covent Garden Theatre on the 2nd of February, 1762;
the principal performers were Miss Brent, Mr. Beard, Mrs. Vernon, Miss
Thomas, Mr. Mattocks, and Tenducci and Pesetti, both of whom came under
the lash of Churchill's satire. The part of Mandane was composed to
show off the compass and flexibility of the voices of the composer's
celebrated pupil, Miss Brent, who therefore was the first exponent of
the martial song, "The soldier tired of war's alarms," which for many
succeeding years was the prescribed test for every new soprano who
courted public favour on the stage or in the concert room. This bravura
air with its trumpet obbligato still remains a favourite with competent
vocalists and discriminating audiences. Arne sold the copyright of
his music for sixty guineas, and it was published with the following
title: "Artaxerxes An English Opera As it is performed at the Theatre
Royal in Covent Garden Set to Music by Dr. Arne. London. Printed for
John Johnson at the Harp and Crown opposite Bow Church Cheapside."
Another edition of the full score was published from Johnson's plates,
"by Authority," by Mr. William Warrell, No. 35 Tavistock Street, Covent
Garden. Price 12s. It is again worthy of note that Arne did not publish
the music of the recitatives in "Artaxerxes," nor of the concluding
chorus, "Live to us, to Empire live." Arne's libretto was published by
Tonson in 1763, with a preface written by the composer. A short extract
follows: "Metastasio, in his Dialect, seems to affect Simplicity; and
from his great Experience in writing for music, has given the following
Plan for the Poetry of an Opera, viz., That the Fable, or Recitative,
to which fixed Musical Sounds are adapted, should be simple Dialect;
hard and dissonant Epithets (though ever so forcible in other Respects)
being destructive to Music, and, when sung, for the chief Part,
unintelligible. That the similes be confin'd to the Songs; and that the
Words, which are to express them, be as smooth and sonorous as possible
lest the Composer be cramp'd in his Fancy, and the Singers rendered
incapable of shewing their Skill, which chiefly consists in openly
displaying the Tones of their Voices or running executive Passages.
"The Translator of this Opera has no Merit, but from his Endeavour
to follow the Author in all these Particulars. He therefore submits
this first Attempt of the Kind to the Favour and Indulgence of the
Publick, not doubting that (if they consider the Difficulty of writing
under such Restrictions, the Necessity of sometimes departing from the
Author, on Account of the different Idioms of our Language; and of
leaving out many Beauties in the Narrative Part of the Drama, for the
sake of Brevity;) they will rather peruse it with an Eye of Favour than
Severity."
"Artaxerxes" was played twelve nights at Covent Garden Theatre during
the season 1762-63, and twelve nights in the succeeding season,
1763-64. Seven nights in 1764-65, and nine nights, 1768-69. In this
latter season, Drury Lane Theatre performed it for four nights with
Mrs. Arne as Mandane. In 1791, the rival theatres competed; Covent
Garden with the part of Mandane by Mrs. Billington as a star, and Drury
Lane with Madame Mara in that character. On the 23rd of September,
1813, it was reproduced at Covent Garden, for the début of Miss
Stephens, afterwards Countess of Essex. The famous tenor, Braham,
after a temporary absence from the theatre stage, generally selected
"Artaxerxes" for his reappearance. "Artaxerxes" was performed at the
Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, in 1769, with Mr. Rose as Artaxerxes; Mr.
Phillips, Artabanes; Arbaces, Mr. Tenducci; Rimines, Mrs. Woodman;
Semira, Miss Brown; and Mandane by Madame Tenducci.[18] The curious
part of the performance was "the addition of three favourite Scots
Airs, the words by Mr. R. Fergusson." The first of these was "By
Heav'n's displeasure," to the tune "Braes of Balansene"; the second
"What doubts oppress," to the tune "Roslin Castle"; the third, "O where
shall I wander," to the tune "Lochaber no more." The first and last of
these interpolations were sung by Signor Tenducci.
On the 8th of December, 1762, "Love in a village," by Bickerstaff, with
music by Dr. Arne, and Beard in the principal character, was brought
out at Covent Garden Theatre. Arne was at the time not on friendly
terms with Garrick, the manager of Drury Lane, to whom he addressed the
following letter:
"SIR--The occasion of my troubling you with this arises from a wicked
report made by some busy Argus, who having an hundred eyes, and but
one of them honest, had ninety-nine too many. Mrs. Cibber not a
little amazed me, when she told me I was charged by you with hissing
Master Norris,[19] or, at least, with holding my head down, in an odd
position, whenever he was hissed.--Sir, I cannot remember whether my
head was up or down, or inclining to one side or the other, but take
upon me positively to swear, that I never was so mean a rascal as to
hiss the greatest enemy I ever had in the world, much less a young lad
who never offended me; who, I then thought, as I now think, deserved
the kindest treatment imaginable; being surprised, as well as shocked,
to hear and see the best singer in your company (except Mr. Vernon),
though with some material defects, treated in so base and undeserving
a manner. I was so far from inclining to any such unbecoming behaviour
that I was the only advocate he had, and kept all quiet about me,
except a young boy of an officer, who said he did not care for the
lad's understanding music, that he squalled, and he would hiss him. I
would not have gone to the performance, for fear of some scandal from
these observing Pickthanks, had I not a friendship for Mr. Stevens,
the lawyer, and an intention to serve the lad; and was so unhappy,
when I came home, that I could not eat my supper on his account.
Whoever told you that I showed any signs of disapprobation is a busy
lying scoundrel, which I am ready to assert to his face, and answer
the consequence. Yet, though neither I, nor my small abilities in my
profession, nor those of any person belonging to me, or in my interest,
have ever received the smile of your favour, but, on the contrary,
have been greatly overlooked and discouraged upon my account, I have
never failed in my respect to you, and still continue (in spite of
ill-treatment) an admirer of your extraordinary talents, and, SIR,
"Your real humble servant,
"THOMAS AUGUSTINE ARNE.
"Nov. 10th, 1762."
Garrick lost no time in replying. On the same day he wrote to Dr. Arne:
"SIR,--There are many mistakes in your letter; and first I did not
charge you with hissing Master Norris; but when Mrs. Cibber spoke to
me about that affair, I told her the truth, that you was charged with
being in the company of hissers, and though you might not hiss, the
persons averred that you were pleased, and laughed at the malcontents
about you. I thought this affair of so little consequence, and so
little willing am I to hear Pickthanks, as you politely call them, that
I never spoke to the person who accused you. Mr. Lacy did, and will
inform you of the whole. When you know and see the person in question,
you may deliver your own messages, for I have too much to do to trouble
myself about these matters. Your assertion, that _neither you nor your
abilities_, &c., have had a smile of favour from me, has no foundation;
for everybody who knows me, knows that I have always given you your
due, as a man of genius, but at the same time I had no great reason to
applaud your behaviour to me. I never ill-treated a man of genius in
my life, and I was so far from returning ill-will towards you, that
I agreed, contrary to my judgment, and against all rules of reason
and policy, that you should make new prices at our theatre for your
Oratorio. Therefore you will be much at a loss to particularise the
_ill-treatment_ you mentioned; nor know I of any transactions between
us, but your indulging us with an engagement with Mr. Fawcett, when you
entered into articles with the other house for Miss Brent.
"I am, SIR,
"Your obedient servant,
"D. GARRICK."
[Illustration: RIOT AT COVENT GARDEN THEATRE, DURING THE PERFORMANCE OF
"ARTAXERXES."]