List of compositions by Thomas Arne
This list of compositions by Thomas Arne is sorted by genre.
Art songs
Arne composed numerous art songs throughout his career, most of which were written for the stage. Many of his songs were published in anthologies throughout his lifetime, but the exact number of songs he composed is now unknown. The following is a list of publications which included songs by Arne during his lifetime. The number of songs by Arne is in square brackets.
Year(s) printed | Title of publication | Other details |
---|---|---|
1737 | The British Musical Miscellany, vol. vi | [1] |
1741 | The Songs and Duetto in The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green | [1] |
1743 | The British Orpheus, vol. iii | [1] |
1743–1745 | Universal Harmony | [1] |
1745 | Lyric Harmony, vol. i | [18] |
1745 | The Music in The Judgment of Paris | [1] |
1746 | Lyric Harmony, vol. ii | [18] |
1747 | Peter Prelleur's An Introduction to Singing | [1] |
1749 | Vocal Melody, vol. i | [6] |
1750 | Vocal Melody, vol. ii | [8] |
1751 | Vocal Melody, vol. iii | [7] |
1752 | Vocal Melody, vol. iv | [2] |
1753 | Willem de Fesch's Songs Sung at Mary-bon Gardens | [2] |
1753 | The Agreeable Musical Choice, vol. v | [7] |
1754 | The Agreeable Musical Choice, vol. vi | [6] |
1755 | A Collection of Poems in Four Volumes by Several Hands | [1] |
1756 | The Agreeable Musical Choice, vol. vii | [8] |
1757 | A Favourite Collection of English Songs | [6] |
1758 | The Agreeable Musical Choice, vol. viii | [6] |
1760 | The Monthly Melody | [22] |
1760 | British Melody, vol. xi | [4] |
1761 | A Choice Collection of Songs, vol. xii | [3] |
1761 | The Winter’s Amusement, vol. xiii | [6] |
1762 | British Amusement | [1] |
1764 | The Royal Magazine, vol. xi | [1] |
1764 | A Favourite Collection of Songs, vol. xiv | [5] |
1765 | The New Songs Sung at Vauxhall | [6] |
1766 | Summer Amusement | [8] |
1768 | New Favourite Songs | [4] |
1774 | The Vocal Grove | [7] |
1777 | The Syren | [7] |
Catches, canons, glees
The exact number of catches, canons, and glees composed by Arne is now unknown. He began writing such works for the pleasure gardens in the 1740s but the majority of his output in this area dates from the 1760s and 1770s. Many of his glees were published in anthologies which, aside for 11 glees written for the Noblemen and Gentlemen's Catch Club, are the only surviving compositions of his in this area. This is a list of the published anthologies containing catches, canons, and glees by Arne. The number of songs by Arne is in square brackets.
Year(s) printed | Title of publication | Other details |
---|---|---|
c.1755 | A Collection of Vocal Harmony | Edited by E.T. Warren. [8] |
1763–1794 | A Collection of Catches, Canons and Glees | Edited by E.T. Warren. Songs by Arne appear in volumes ii [4]; iii [5]; iv [2]; v [7]; vii [3]; viii [4]; xv [1]; xvi [1]; xx [1] |
c.1790 | Apollonian Harmony, vol. iv | [2] |
Instrumental music
Arne showed little interest in writing concert music. The instrumental music he did compose derives mostly from his stage works. This list contains his instrumental works that have been published separately from his stage works. Not listed below are a few solo violin and solo double bass pieces whose composition date is now unknown and whose publication did not occur until 1978.
Completion | Title | Genre | Other details |
1751 | Eight overtures in 8 parts | overture | This is a collection of overtures from various stage works by Arne including the overtures for Henry and Emma, Comus, and The Judgment of Paris. First used for a concert performance in 1751, the collection has been published numerous times, most recently by J. Herbage in 1937. |
1756 | VIII Sonatas or Lessons | sonata | Published in 1983 by C. Hogwood |
1757 | VII sonatas | sonata | Published by editor H. Murrill (London, 1939, 1951, 1960) |
1767 | Four New Overtures or Symphonies in 8 and 10 Parts | overture, symphony | Another selection of symphonic works mostly from Arne's stage works that were initially put together for a concert performance in 1767. Most recently published by editor R. Platt (London, 1973) |
1793 | Six Favourite Concertos | keyboard concerto | These keyboard concertos were a part of various stage works by Arne and were compiled for publication in 1793. They were most recently published by R. Langley (London, 1981) |
Odes and cantatas
- A Grand Epithalamium, 1736, lost
- Black-Ey’d Susan (cant., R. Leveridge), 1740, lost
- God bless our noble king, A, T, B, ATB, 2 hn, 2 ob, str, bc, 1745, GB-Lbl, ed. C. Bartlett (Wyton, 1985)
- Fair Celia love pretended (cant., W. Congreve), 1v, vns, bc, Vocal Melody, i (1749)
- Chaucer’s Recantation (cant.), 1v, str, bc, Vocal Melody, ii (1750)
- Ode to Chearfulness, 1750, lost
- Cymon and Iphigenia (cant., J. Dryden), 1v, str, bc, vs (1750), pts Bu
- Six Cantatas, fs (1755): Bacchus and Ariadne, 1v, 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 hn, str, bc; Delia, 1v, str, bc; Frolick and Free (G. Granville), 1v, 2 ob, str, bc; Lydia (after Sappho), 1v, 2 bn, str, bc; The Morning, 1v, fl/rec, str, bc; The School of Anacreon, 1v, 2 hn, str, bc; Lydia and The Morning, both ed. R. Hufstader (New York, 1971)
- 5 odes in Del Canzionere d’Orazio (1757): Delle muse all’almo core, 1v, str, bc; Finche fedele il core, 2vv, 2 fl, str, bc; Finche fedele il core, 2vv, 2 vn, bc; Se vanti in Telefo, 1v, 2 hn, str, bc; Tu mi fuggi schizzinosa, 1v, 2 vn, bc [= Advice to Chloe]
- The Spring (cant.), 1v, str, bc, British Melody (1760)
- Love and Resentment (cant.), 1v, 2 cl, 2 vn, bc, Summer Amusement (1766)
- The Lover’s Recantation (cant.), 1v, 2 fl, 2 ob, str, bc; vs in The Winter’s Amusement (1761), fs, Lbl, ed. P. Young (Leipzig, 1988)
- Advice to Chloe (cant.), 1v, vns, bc, New Favourite Songs (1768)
- An Ode upon Dedicating a Building to Shakespeare (D. Garrick), 1769, speaker, S, S, S, S, T, Bar, SATB, orch; 9 nos. in vs (1769)
- Love and Resolution (musical dialogue), 1770, music lost
- Reffley Spring (cant.), 2vv, 2 vn, bc, vs (1772)
- Diana (cant.), 1v, 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 cl, 2 hn, 2 vn, bc; vs in The Vocal Grove (1774)
- Whittington’s Feast (secular orat, Arne, after Dryden: Alexander’s Feast), 1776, S, S, T, B, SATB, 2 fl, 2 ob, 2bn, 2 tpt, 2 hn, timps, drum, str, bc, fs, US-Wc
- A wretch long tortured with disdain (cant.), 1v, 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 hn, str, bc, full score GB-Lbl
Sacred music
Compared to his most important English contemporaries, William Boyce and John Stanley, Arne's output of sacred music was small; the major reason was his Roman Catholic faith, which was at odds with the Church of England during his lifetime.
Completion | Title | Genre | Other details |
---|---|---|---|
1744 | The Death of Abel | oratorio | Words after Metastasio, lost except for Hymn of Eve (printed 1756) |
1744 | Judith | oratorio | Words by I. Bickerstaff based on the Book of Judith, printed score without recits and choruses (1761), and a complete score at the British Library |
unknown | Mass in F | mass | Written for a performance at Lulworth Castle in Dorset. The music is either lost or potentially the same as that of an anonymous composer. Written for three voices and organ sometime before 1770. |
unknown | Mass in G | mass | Written for a performance at Lulworth Castle in Dorset. Written for four voices and organ sometime before 1770. Score still exists as does a revised version for fewer voices. |
1770 | Libera me | dirge | Written for the funeral of Francis Pemberton on 28 June 1770. Contains SSATB chorus, organ, soprano, tenor, and baritone soloists. Music exists and was printed by Oxford Publishing in 1950. |
Unknown | O salutaris hostia | motet | Copy of the music exists at the British Library in London. Written sometime between 1771 and 1776. |
1777 | 1 song in Samuel Arnold’s The Prodigal Son | oratorio | Published in The Syren (1777). |
Stage works
Completion | Title | Genre | Length | Première | Librettist or playwright | Other details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1733 | Rosamond | opera seria | 3 acts | 7 March 1733, London, Lincoln's Inn Fields | after Joseph Addison's 1704 opera | Revived as an afterpiece in 1740. The only existing score of the work is the afterpiece version. |
1733 | The Opera of Operas, or Tom Thumb the Great | burlesque opera | afterpiece | 29 October 1733, London, Little Theatre | Eliza Haywood and William Hatchett, after Henry Fielding | Two songs from the work still exist, one in The British Musical Miscellany, vol. iii (1735) and the other in J. Markordt, Tom Thumb (1781). The other 16 songs are now lost. |
1734 | Dido and Aeneas | masque | 12 January 1734, London, Little Theatre | Barton Booth | Only 2 songs still exist from The British Musical Miscellany, vol. i (1734). The rest of the masque is lost. | |
1734 | Love and Glory | masque | 2 acts | 21 March 1734, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | T. Phillips | Music now lost. The work contained 14 musical numbers. |
1735 | Harlequin Orpheus, or The Magical Pipe | pantomime | 3 March 1735, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | unknown | Music now lost. | |
1735 | The Twin Rivals | incidental music for a play | 2 acts | 21 August 1735, London, Little Theater | George Farquhar | All of the music is lost with the exception of the overture which is the same used for Harlequin Restor’d. |
1735 | Harlequin Restor’d, or The Country Revels | pantomime | 18 October 1735, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | The overture is the only work to survive from this work with the exception of a few comic songs which may or may not be from the pantomime. | ||
1735 | Greenwich Park | incidental music for a play | 10 November 1735, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | William Mountfort | Music now lost. | |
1735 | The Miser | incidental music for a play | 13 November 1735, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Henry Fielding | Music now lost. Fielding's play is based on Molière's L'avare. | |
1736 | Harlequin Restor’d, or Taste à la Mode | pantomime | 12 January 1736, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Richard Charke | Music now lost. | |
1736 | Zara | incidental music for a play | 12 January 1736, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Aaron Hill | All music except a march is lost. Hill's play is based on Voltaire | |
1736 | The Fall of Phaeton | masque | 28 February 1736, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | W. Pritchard | Only one of the six songs survives. | |
1736 | The Rival Queens, or The Death of Alexander the Great | incidental music for a play | 22 November 1736, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Nathaniel Lee | Only a single duet, published in The Songs in As You Like It and Twelfth Night (1741), survives. | |
1737 | The King and the Miller of Mansfield | incidental music for a play | 29 January 1737, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Robert Dodsley | Only one song published in The Musical Entertainer, vol. i (1737) survives. | |
1738 | Comus | masque | 3 acts | 4 March 1738, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | John Dalton, after John Milton's Comus | A copy of the full score published in 1740 is at the British Library. Arne revised the work as an
afterpiece in 1772. |
1738 | The Tender Husband, or The Accomplish’d Fools | incidental music for a play | 25 November 1738, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Richard Steele | Only a single song, published in The Songs in As You Like It and Twelfth Night (1741), survives. | |
1739 | An Hospital for Fools | dramatic fable | 15 November 1739, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | James Miller | The four songs written for the play survive, but the dance music is now lost. | |
1740 | Don John, or The Libertine Destroy’d | incidental music for a play | 13 February 1740, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Thomas Shadwell | Contained several songs, dance of shepherds, and dance of furies. The music is now lost. | |
1740 | Lethe, or Esop in the Shades | incidental music for a play | 1 April 1740, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | David Garrick | Arne wrote only one of the songs for this play, which was published in The Agreeable Musical Choice, vol. vi (1754). The other music for the production was composed by W. Boyce. | |
1740 | Alfred | opera | 3 acts | 1 August 1740, Cliveden House, Berks. | David Mallet and James Thomson | Originally written as a masque to celebrate the accession of George II in 1740. Was later revised into an all sung oratorio in 1745 and then greatly expanded into its final version as an opera in 1753. A score of the final version still survives. |
1740 | Oepidius, King of Thebes | incidental music for a play | 19 November 1740, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | John Dryden and Nathaniel Lee, after Sophocles | Contained one song and instrumental music for the sacrificial scene. Music now lost. | |
1740 | The Tempest | incidental music for a play | 4 acts | 28 November 1740, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Shadwell and Dryden, after William Shakespeare | Contained several songs as well as instrumental music by Arne. A number of the songs still survive in various song collections published during the 1770s. Two songs appear in Nine Shakespeare Songs by Thomas Augustine Arne (London, 1963). |
1740 | As You Like It | incidental music for a play | 4 acts | 20 December 1740, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | William Shakespeare | Contained several songs as well as instrumental music by Arne. A number of the songs still survive in various song collections published during the 1770s. Three songs appear in Nine Shakespeare Songs by Thomas Augustine Arne (London, 1963). |
1741 | Twelfth Night, or What You Will | incidental music for a play | 4 acts | 15 January 1741, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | William Shakespeare | Contained several songs as well as instrumental music by Arne. Only three of the songs still survive. |
1741 | The Peasant’s Triumph on the Death of the Wild Boar | ballet | 12 February 1741, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Some of the dance music survives. | ||
1741 | The Merchant of Venice | incidental music for a play | 4 acts | 14 February 1741, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | William Shakespeare | Two songs and one duet survive. |
1741 | The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green | ballad opera | 2 acts | 3 April 1741, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Robert Dodsley | Seven of the nine songs survive. |
1741 | The Rehearsal | incidental music for a play | 4 acts | 21 November 1741, London, Royal College of Music | George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham | Only one duet survives. |
1742 | The Judgment of Paris | masque | 1 act | 12 March 1742, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | William Congreve | A score, including arias and choruses, dated from 1745 still exists. |
1742 | Miss Lucy in Town | ballad farce | 6 May 1742, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Henry Fielding | Revived in 1770 as The Country Madcap. Contained 10 songs but all of the music is now lost. | |
1743 | The Mock Doctor | farce | 2 May 1743, Dublin, Aungier St Theatre | Joseph Addison | Although the music is likely by Arne, an absolute assertion of his authorship can not be established. All of the music is now lost. | |
1744 | Theodosius, or The Force of Love | incidental music for a play | 26 April 1744, Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre | Nathaniel Lee | All five musical numbers still exist. | |
1744 | Cymbeline | incidental music for a play | 8 November 1744, London, Little Theatre | Theophilus Cibber, after Shakespeare. Text by William Collins. | Only the dirge still exists. | |
1745 | The Temple of Dullness | burlesque opera | 3 acts | 17 January 1745, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Colley Cibber, after interludes in Lewis Theobald's The Happy Captive | Originally included 16 songs. All of the music is now lost. |
1745 | The Picture, or The Cuckold in Conceit | incidental music for a play | 11 February 1745, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | James Miller, after Molière's Sganarelle | Only one song survives. | |
1745 | King Pepin’s Campaign | burlesque opera | 2 acts | 15 April 1745, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | William Shirley | Contained 19 musical numbers. Music now lost. |
1746 | Harlequin Incendiary, or Colombine Cameron | pantomime | 3 March 1746, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Contained 14 musical numbers. Music now lost. | ||
1746 | The She-Gallants, or Once a Lover and Always a Lover | incidental music for a play | 13 March 1746, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne | Only one song survives. | |
1747 | The Sheep-Shearing, or Florizel and Perdita | incidental music for a play | 1747, Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre | Macnamara Morgan, after Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale | Music now lost. One song survives in "A Collection Consisting of Favourite Songs and Cantatas" by Th Arne. IMSLP317040-PMLP512228-Arne_-_Collection | |
1747 | The Wild Goose Chase | incidental music for a play | 7 March 1747, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | John Fletcher | Only one song written for the play which is now lost. | |
1748 | The Foundling | incidental music for a play | 13 February 1748, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | E. Moore | Only one song written for the play which still survives. | |
1748 | The Provok’d Wife | incidental music for a play | 21 March 1748, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Garrick, after J. Vanbrugh | Only one song of the five written for the play still survives. | |
1748 | The Nunnery Expedition | incidental music for a play | advertised 20 April 1748, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | unknown | Never performed and the music is now lost. | |
1748 | Much Ado About Nothing | incidental music for a play | 14 November 1748, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Shakespeare | Only one song written for the play which still survives. | |
1749 | The Triumph of Peace | masque | 21 February 1749, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Dodsley | Only one of the seven songs written for the masque still survives. | |
1749 | The Muses’ Looking Glass | incidental music for a play | 9 March 1749, London, Covent Garden Theatre | T. Randolph | Only one song written for the play which still survives. | |
1749 | Henry and Emma, or The Nut-Brown Maid | musical drama | 31 March 1749, London, Covent Garden Theatre | T. Holt, after M. Prior | Contained 15 musical numbers of which all but two, the overture and a song also used in The Masque of Alfred (1757), are now lost. | |
1750 | Don Saverio | comic opera | 15 February 1750, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | By the composer. | Only two of the eighteen songs written for the opera still survives; one that was printed in London Magazine (1752) and another that was reused in Masque of Alfred (1757). | |
1750 | Harlequin Mountebank, or The Squire Electrified | pantomime | London, New Wells, Clerkenwell, 16 April 1750 | Music now lost. | ||
1750 | The Sacrifice of Iphigenia | entertainment | London, New Wells, Clerkenwell, 16 April 1750 | One song still survives that was published in London Magazine (1750). | ||
1750 | Romeo and Juliet | incidental music for a play | 28 September 1750, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Shakespeare | Only a dirge written for the play which was printed c. 1765 | |
1751 | The Country Lasses, or The Custom of the Manor | incidental music for a play | 14 December 1751, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | C. Johnson | One song published in Vocal Melody, iv (1752) | |
1752 | Harlequin Sorcerer | pantomime | 11 February 1752, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | after Theobald | Twelve musical numbers written of which four solo songs, one duet, and a minuet survive. | |
1752 | The Oracle | incidental music for a play | 17 March 1752, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | S.-M. Cibber, after Saint-Foix | One song survives, published in Vocal Melody, iv (1752). | |
1752 | The Drummer, or The Haunted House | incidental music for a play | 8 December 1752, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Addison | Only one musical number survives. | |
1754 | Eliza | opera | 3 acts | 29 May 1754, London, Little Theatre, Haymarket | R. Rolt | An incomplete score was published in 1757. Parts of act 1 and act 2 are now lost. |
1755 | Britannia | masque | 2 acts | 9 May 1755, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | A complete score published in 1755 still exists. | |
1756 | Injured Honour, or The Earl of Westmorland | incidental music for a play | 8 March 1756, Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre | H. Brooke | Contained an anthem, dirge, and triumphal hymn. All of the music is now lost. | |
1756 | The Pincushion farce | farce | 20 March 1756, Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre | Most likely by Arne himself but attributed to John Gay | All of the music is now lost. | |
1756 | The Painter’s Breakfast | incidental music for a play | 2 April 1756, Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre | unknown | All of the music is now lost. | |
1756 | Catherine and Petruchio | incidental music for a play | 2 April 1756, Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre | Garrick, after Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew | All of the music is now lost. | |
1756 | Mercury Harlequin | pantomime | 27 December 1756, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | H. Woodward | Two songs survive. | |
1757 | The Fair Penitent | incidental music for a play | 22 April 1757, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | N. Rowe | All of the music is now lost. | |
1757 | Isabella, or The Fatal Marriage | incidental music for a play | 2 December 1757, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Garrick, after T. Southerne | Two songs survive that are published in The Agreeable Musical Choice, viii (1758). | |
1758 | The Prophetess, or The History of Dioclesian | musical play | 1 February 1758, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | T. Betterton, after ?Fletcher and P. Massinger | One of the six musical numbers survives. | |
1758 | The Sultan, or Solyman and Zaida | masque | 23 November 1758, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Originally performed with a revised version of The Prophetess, or The History of Dioclesian. Only a duet survives. | ||
1759 | The Ambitious Stepmother | incidental music for a play | 1 February 1759, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Rowe | All of the music is lost. | |
1759 | Cymbeline | incidental music for a play | 15 February 1759, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | W. Hawkins, after Shakespeare | Only a dirge survives which was later re-used in The Winter’s Amusement (1761). | |
1759 | The Beggar's Opera | ballad opera | 3 acts | 10 October 1759, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | John Gay | Arne added a few new songs, a hornpipe, and made some small revisions to the original music by Gay. |
1760 | The Desert Island | incidental music for a play | 24 January 1760, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | A. Murphy, after P. Metastasio | One song survives. | |
1760 | The Jovial Crew, or The Merry Beggars | comic opera | 2 acts | 14 February 1760, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | E. Roome, M. Concanen and W. Yonge, after R. Brome | 7 songs survive which were published in A Collection of Songs, ix (c1760). The opera was revived as The Ladies’ Frolick at Drury Lane on 7 May 1770. |
1760 | Thomas and Sally, or The Sailor’s Return | comic opera | 2 acts | 28 November 1760, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | I. Bickerstaff | Full score published in 1761 and republished in 1977. |
1761 | The Way to Keep Him | incidental music for a play | 10 January 1761, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Murphy | Two song survives. | |
1761 | The Provok’d Husband, or A Journey to London | incidental music for a play | 7 April 1761, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Vanbrugh and C. Cibber | Two song survives which were published in The Winter’s Amusement, xiii (1761). | |
1762 | Artaxerxes | serious opera | 3 acts | 2 February 1762, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Arne, after Metastasio | A published score was made in 1762 without the recitatives and final chorus. However, some of the missing music was published in The Syren (1777) and in an 1820 re-publication by J. Addison. |
1762 | Beauty and Virtue Reconciled | serenata | 26 February 1762, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Arne, after Metastasio | All of the music is lost. | |
1762 | Love in a Village | pasticcio/comic opera | 3 acts | 8 December 1762, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Bickerstaff, after Johnson's The Village Opera | The work contains 42 musical numbers of which only five were newly composed works by Arne. The other music is made up of 13 pieces borrowed from Arne's earlier stage works, a new overture was by C. F. Abel, and 23 songs by other composers, including Geminiani and Galuppi, albeit with new texts. Full score survives. |
1763 | The Birth of Hercules | masque | Never performed but was rehearesed for performance in London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Shirley | Nineteen musical numbers were composed for the work but all of the music is now lost. | |
1764 | The Arcadian Nuptials | masque | 19 January 1764, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Most likely Arne. | Only a dialogue survives which was published in A Favourite Collection of Songs (1764). | |
1764 | The Guardian Out-witted | comic opera | 3 acts | 12 December 1764, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Arne | Only the overture survives which was published in Periodical Overtures, xxvii (1770). |
1765 | L’olimpiade | opera seria | 3 acts | 27 April 1765, London, Kings Theatre in the Haymarket | Bottarelli, after Metastasio | All of the music is now lost. |
1765 | The Summer’s Tale | pasticcio/ musical comedy | 6 December 1765, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | R. Cumberland | Contained two new songs by Arne and 2 songs from previous works by Arne which were arranged by S. Arnold. | |
1766 | Miss in her Teens, or The Medley of Lovers | farce | 25 April 1766, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Garrick, after Dancourt's La parisienne | One song survives. | |
1768 | Lionel and Clarissa | pasticcio/comic opera | 25 February 1768, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Bickerstaff | The work contained 1 new song by Arne and was arranged by C. Dibdin. | |
1770 | King Arthur, or The British Worthy | masque | 3 acts | 13 December 1770, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Garrick, after Dryden | Contains revisions of Henry Purcell's King Arthur and 10 new songs by Arne. |
1771 | The Fairy Prince | masque | 3 acts | 12 November 1771, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Colman the elder, after B. Jonson's Oberon | The score was published in 1771 but without the dance music, recitatives, and some of the choruses. |
1772 | Squire Badger | burletta | 2 acts | 16 March 1772, London, Little Theatre | Arne, after Fielding's Don Quixote | Only 1 of the 15 musical numbers survives. The work was revived under the name The Sot at the Little Theatre on 16 February 1775. |
1772 | The Cooper | comic opera | 2 acts | 10 June 1772, London, Little Theatre | Arne, after N.M. Audinot and A.F. Quétant's Le tonnelier | Published in 1772 and re-published in 1956. |
1772 | Elfrida | dramatic poem or opera | 5 acts | 21 November 1772, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Colman the elder, after W. Mason | Published in 1772. |
1772 | The Rose | comic opera | 3 acts | 2 December 1772, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Most likely Arne | Of the 20 musical numbers only the overture survives. |
1772 | The Pigmy Revels, or Harlequin Foundling | pantomime | 26 December 1772, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | J. Messink | Charles Dibdin wrote most of the music for this work. Arne only composed the Morris Dance which was published in 1773. | |
1773 | Alzuma | incidental music for a play | 23 February 1773, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Murphy, after Dryden and Voltaire | Two songs were written, Procession of Virgins and Ode to the Sun, both of which are now lost. | |
1773 | The Trip to Portsmouth | comic opera | 11 August 1773, London, Little Theatre | G.A. Stevens | Vocal music by Dibdin; overture borrowed from The Rose and 2 new dance tunes by Arne. | |
1773 | Achilles in Petticoats | burlesque opera | 3 acts | 16 December 1773, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Colman the elder, after Gay | Vocal score published in 1774. |
1774 | Henry and Emma (revised) | musical drama | 3 acts | 13 April 1774, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | H. Bate Dudley, after Prior | Four new songs were written of which all are now lost. |
1775 | May-Day, or The Little Gipsy | musical farce | 2 acts | 28 October 1775, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Garrick | Vocal score published in 1776. |
1776 | Phoebe at Court | operetta | 2 acts | 22 February 1776, London, Little Theatre | Arne, after R. Lloyd's The Capricious Lovers | Music is now lost. |
1776 | The Seraglio | comic opera | 25 November 1776, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Dibdin and E. Thompson | Only one song by Arne. The rest of the music is by Dibdin and Arnold. Music now lost. | |
1776 | Caractacus | dramatic poem or opera | 5 acts | 6 December 1776, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Mason | Twentyone musical numbers written. Music now lost. |
1777 | Love Finds the Way | pasticcio/comic opera | 3 acts | 18 November 1777, London, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | T. Hull, after Murphy's The School for Guardians | Music arranged by Fisher and contained an unknown number of new songs by Arne. Music now lost. |
Trick upon Trick | ballad opera | unknown production | R. Fabian | Two songs survive which were published in The Winter’s Amusement (1761). Possibly performed at Covent Garden as a part of The Comical Resentment, or Trick for Trick on 26 March 1759. |
Works misattributed to Arne
- The Most Celebrated Aires in the Opera of Tom Thumb (London, 1733), by John Frederick Lampe
- Ode upon St. Cecilia’s Day, now lost, by Charles Burney
- Caractacus (c1795), possibly by Charles Wesley junior
- Epithalamium, At Cana’s Feast, attribution doubtful
- Mass in D by Alphonse d'Eve
- The hymn tune "Helmsley", based on an anonymous Dublin air.
Sources
- Peter Holman, Todd Gilman: "Thomas Augustine Arne", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy. (subscription access)
- Davey, Henry (2007). History Of English Music. Kessinger Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-4286-0670-8.