Alfred (1753)
Thomas Augustine Arne (1710-1778) was the most important figure in the world of English theatre music in the middle part of the 18th century: like his painter contemporary William Hogarth, he vehemently fought for the cause of native creativity at a time when the fashion for foreign culture was all prevalent. With a brilliant gift for melody, Arne was able to turn his hand to the whole range of theatre music, from incidental music and comic 'afterpieces' to complex masques and opera seria on the scale of those by his great rival Handel. Much of his career was dominated by work at the major theatres in Dublin and London, including The Haymarket, Drury Lane and Covent Garden. He married Cecilia Young, the greatest soprano of her day, although irrational behaviour perhaps on both sides led to long-term estrangement. Amongst his finest works are his masques Comus and The Judgement of Paris and his operas Artaxerxes and Alfred . Unfortunately a great number of his works are lost or survive incomplete.
