thumb|Portrait of Arne by [[Johan Zoffany]]
Michael Arne (c. 174014 January 1786) was an English composer, harpsichordist, organist, singer, and actor. He was the son of the composer Thomas Arne and the soprano Cecilia Young, a member of the famous Young family of musicians of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Like his father, Arne worked primarily as a composer of stage music and vocal art song, contributing little to other genres of music. He wrote several songs for London's pleasure gardens, the most famous of which is Lass with the Delicate Air (1762). A moderately prolific composer, Arne wrote nine operas and collaborated on at least 15 others. His most successful opera, Cymon (1767), enjoyed several revivals during his lifetime and into the early nineteenth century.
Biography
Early life and career
thumb|230px|right|Susanna Maria Cibber (née Arne) (1714 – 1766) was the greatest dramatic actress of the eighteenth-century London stage and was the highest-paid actress in England during her lifetime. On the day of her death [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden and Drury Lane closed their doors as a tribute to her memory.]]
Michael Arne was born most likely in 1740 in the Covent Garden area of London. Music historian Charles Burney, a close friend of the Arne family, indicates that he was Thomas Arne's natural son but there is some speculation among modern scholars that he may have been adopted. There is no record for Michael Arne at St Paul's, Covent Garden, where most of the Arne family were christened. His father, Thomas Arne, was the most important English theatrical composer of the eighteenth century and is considered the catalyst for the revival of English opera in the early 1730s. His mother, Cecilia Young, was one of the greatest English sopranos of the century and part of the famous Young family of musicians. Both Michael's grandfather, Charles Young, and his great-uncle, Anthony Young, were well known organists and minor composers. His Aunt Isabella was a successful soprano and the wife of composer John Frederick Lampe. His other aunt, Esther Young, was a contralto and the wife of music publisher Charles Jones. His cousins, Isabella, Elizabeth, and Polly, were all successful singers in their own right.
After 1745 Michael spent the majority of his childhood in the care of his aunt and celebrated actress Susannah Maria Cibber due to his mother's frequent illnesses and his father's busy career. It is likely that he received his earliest musical training from his aunt. Michael's obvious lack of enthusiasm for singing prevailed and he focused primarily on music composition and organ and harpsichord performance after the summer of 1750. On 5 February 1751 he gave his first solo organ concert, which featured one of his father's organ concertos; he went on to be the principal exponent of his father's organ works for the next thirty years. Arne also showed an early talent as a composer, and his first collection of vocal art songs entitled The Floweret was published in 1750. The collection included the Scottish-style song "The Highland Laddie", which became popular and as late as 1775 was adapted by Thomas Linley the elder in The Duenna. He also spent some time working in Dublin, Ireland in 1775–1776. His opera The Maid of the Vale premiered at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin on 12 February 1775, and in December 1776 he was engaged by Thomas Ryder to produce Cymon in Dublin. Both productions featured his wife in leading roles and she became a highly popular attraction to the Dublin community.