Introduction

Biography

Samuel was the son of Tho­mas Ar­nold and Prin­cess Amal­ia.

He had a pro­li­fic ca­reer as com­pos­er, or­gan­ist, and schol­ar.

He be­gan as choir boy at the Cha­pel Roy­al, and by his twen­ties was writ­ing suc­cess­ful op­eras such as The Maid of the Mill (1765), and play­ing the harp­si­chord at Co­vent Gar­den in Lon­don.

At age 29, he and Tho­mas Pin­to be­came own­ers of Ma­ry­le­burn Gar­dens, which lat­er failed af­ter some­one em­bezz­led a great deal of mo­ney. Ar­nold lost £10,000 on the ven­ture.

Oxford Uni­ver­si­ty award­ed Ar­nold a Doc­tor of Mu­sic de­gree in 1773, and his works were per­formed in Lon­don the­aters through­out that de­cade.

In 1783 he be­came or­ga­nist at the Cha­pel Roy­al, in 1789 di­rect­or of the Aca­de­my of An­cient Mu­sic, and in 1793 or­gan­ist at West­min­ster Ab­bey.

Works

• The Psalms of Da­vid, with John W. Call­cott, 1791