194 Dr. Charles J. Hall on 



highest order. English music owes as much to the Arne of 

 the 1 8th as to the Purcell of the 17th century. Everyone 

 now-a-days acknowledges Arne to have been the author of 

 graceful airs, as elegant as any emanating from the Con- 

 tinent, and yet possessing that diatonic flavour which is an 

 essential characteristic of true English melody ; but, as an 

 independent thinker and as an inventor of musical form, 

 Arne has never, I submit, received his full meed of praise, 

 and I claim for him that, whilst the fluency of his diction 

 is admitted on all hands, the originality of his structural 

 powers has been somewhat overlooked. It is this side of the 

 man's genius that I now purpose to examine, and I am not 

 therefore going to give anything like a detailed biographical 

 account of Arne's life. Those who may feel interested in 

 it will find an admirable summary in Dr. Busby's history 

 of music, published in 18 19, or in a more accessible form in 

 the article " Arne," by Mr. Barclay Squire, in the new 

 " Dictionary of National Biography." But it is of course 

 necessary for me to refer to and bear in mind some facts 

 and dates in connection with Arne's career. He was born 

 in the spring of 17 10, and in due course his father,, 

 who was a well-to-do upholsterer in Covent Garden, 

 sent him to Eton, where his musical proclivities soon began 

 to exhibit themselves, to the discomfort of his fellows, 

 Arne being much given to playing the flute. Leaving Eton, 

 he entered a solicitor's office, being destined by his father for 

 a legal career, but as in the case of many other musicians, such 

 as Schumann and the late Henry Smart, both of whom were 

 intended for the legal profession, the claims of music proved 

 too strong. The father, after a period of fruitless opposition, 

 gave way, and the son was allowed to study music to the 

 top of his bent. In 1733, he produced his first opera, 

 " Rosamond." Now, let us see what, at that time, were his 

 musical surroundings and the influences under which he 

 was living and working. Purcell had been dead 38 years, 



