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Thomas Augustine Arne was a prominent English composer of the 18th century, best known for his patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" and his significant contributions to English theatre music, including operas, masques, and incidental music for plays.Born in London, Arne pursued music despite family objections. He achieved early success with his setting of "Rule, Britannia!" (1740) and the masque "Alfred".Arne became the leading native composer for the London stage, rivalling Handel in popularity for English-language works.He composed numerous operas (like "Artaxerxes"), masques, and songs for Shakespearean plays performed at Drury Lane and Covent Garden.His marriage to singer Cecilia Young was strained, partly due to his secret Catholic conversion.He received a Doctorate of Music from Oxford University in 1759.

• Arne secretly learned violin and spinet as a youth, practicing while his family was at church.
• His marriage to celebrated soprano Cecilia Young was troubled; they separated for a period, and Arne formed a professional partnership (and possibly a romantic one) with another singer, Charlotte Brent.
• A major fire destroyed Covent Garden Theatre in 1808, consuming many of Arne's unpublished manuscripts.
• He caused a scandal by converting to Roman Catholicism, which was illegal and socially disadvantageous in 18th-century Protestant England.
• Arne died at his London home in 1778, likely from natural causes associated with aging, though specific illness details are not well-documented in primary sources.