Arnold, Samuel (1740-1802)

English composer. In 1765 he became composer to Covent Garden Theatre, London, and produced the pasticcio The Maid of the Mill (1765). He was appointed organist of the Chapel Royal in 1783 and Westminster Abbey in 1793. He composed or arranged many works for the stage, including The Spanish Barber (1777), Gretna Green (1783), and Turk and No Turk (1784). He also wrote oratorios and church music.

Works Operas and plays with music The Maid of the Mill (1765), Dr Faustus (1766), The Portrait (1770), The Castle of Andalusia (1782), Gretna Green (1783), Peeping Tom of Coventry (1784), Inkle and Yarico (1787), The Surrender of Calais (1791), The Mountaineers (1793), The Shipwreck (1796), The Enraged Musician (on Hogarth's picture; 1798), Obi, or Three-fingered Jack (1800) and many others.

Oratorios The Cure of Saul (1767), The Resurrection (1770), The Prodigal Son (1773), Elisha (1801).

Other church music; overture for orchestra; odes for chorus; harpsichord music; songs.