Samuel James Arnold
Encyclopedia
Samuel James Arnold was an English dramatist.
Arnold was the son of Samuel Arnold, Mus. Doc, and was educated for an artist. He produced, however, at the Haymarket Theatre
, in 1794, 'Auld Robin Gray
,' a musical play in two acts; and this was followed by other works of the same class: 'Who pays the Reckoning?' produced at the Haymarket in 1795; the 'Shipwreck,' produced at Drury Lane Theatre
in 1796; the 'Irish Legacy,' produced at the Haymarket in 1797; and the 'Veteran Tar,' produced at Drury Lane in 1801. 'Foul Deeds will rise,' first played at the Haymarket in 1804, is described by Genest as 'an unnatural mixture of tragedy and farce.' The ' Prior Claim,' produced at Drury Lane in 1805, was a comedy written in conjunction with Henry James Pye, the poet laureate, whose daughter Arnold had married in 1803. 'Man and Wife, or More Secrets than One,' a comedy produced at Drury Lane in 1809, enjoyed some thirty representations.
In this year Arnold obtained from the Lord Chamberlain a license to open as an English opera house the Lyceum in the Strand
, a building previously devoted to subscription concerts, picture exhibitions, feats of horsemanship, conjuring, etc. Upon the destruction of Drury Lane by fire in the same year, the company moved to the English Opera House, and remained there three seasons. The license had been originally granted in the belief that the house would be open only for four months in the summer, and would become a nursery of singers for the winter theatres. 'Up all Night, or the Smuggler's Cave,' ' Britain's Jubilee,' the 'Maniac, or Swiss Banditti,' 'Plots, or the North Tower,' are the titles of musical plays by Arnold presented by the Drury Lane company during their occupancy of the English Opera House. The theatre was afterwards open under his own management, when his operas of the 'King's Proxy,' the 'Devil's Bridge,' the ' Americans,' 'Frederick the Great,' 'Baron Trenck,' 'Broken Promises,' and dramas entitled 'Two Words,' 'Free and Easy,' &c., &c., were produced in succession. In 1811 he staged M.P.
, a comic play by Thomas Moore
.
Hazlitt wrote in 1816 of Arnold's 'King's Proxy,' that it was 'the essence of four hundred rejected pieces … with all that is threadbare in plot, lifeless in wit, and sickly in sentiment. … Mr. Arnold writes with the fewest ideas possible; his meaning is more nicely balanced between sense and nonsense than that of any of his competitors; he succeeds from the perfect insignificance of his pretensions, and fails to offend through downright imbecility.' Arnold's 'Two Words,' however, Hazlitt pronounced 'a delightful little piece. It is a scene with robbers and midnight murder in it; and all such scenes are delightful to the reader or spectator. We can conceive nothing better managed than the plot of this.' In 1812 Arnold had been invited to undertake the direction of Drury Lane Theatre; he resigned his office on the death of Mr. Whitbread by his own hand in 1815. In 1816 the English Opera was reopened by Arnold, having been rebuilt upon an enlarged scale by Samuel Beazlfey, the architect, at a cost of 80,000l. In 1824 Arnold produced for the first time in England a version of Weber's 'Der Freischiitz,' which had been previously refused by the two patent theatres. Other foreign operas of note, the 'Tartare' of Salieri, the 'Freebooters' of Paer, the 'Robber's Bride' of Ferdinand Ries, and Marschner's 'Der Vampyr,' were afterwards produced at tlie English opera house for the first time in England. In 1880 the theatre was destroyed by fire. In 1833 the present Lyceum, also rebuilt by Samuel Beazley, was opened to the public. The English operas of 'Nourjahad' by Edward Loder, and the 'Mountain Sylph' by John Barnett, were produced under Arnold's management. Arnold was a magistrate and a fellow of the Royal Society
.
Arnold was the son of Samuel Arnold, Mus. Doc, and was educated for an artist. He produced, however, at the Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
, in 1794, 'Auld Robin Gray
Auld Robin Gray
Auld Robin Gray is the title of a Scots ballad written by the Scottish poet Lady Anne Lindsay in 1772.The title comes from the name of its hero, a good old man who marries a young woman whose is in love with a man called Jamie who goes away to sea in order to earn money so that the couple can marry...
,' a musical play in two acts; and this was followed by other works of the same class: 'Who pays the Reckoning?' produced at the Haymarket in 1795; the 'Shipwreck,' produced at Drury Lane Theatre
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
in 1796; the 'Irish Legacy,' produced at the Haymarket in 1797; and the 'Veteran Tar,' produced at Drury Lane in 1801. 'Foul Deeds will rise,' first played at the Haymarket in 1804, is described by Genest as 'an unnatural mixture of tragedy and farce.' The ' Prior Claim,' produced at Drury Lane in 1805, was a comedy written in conjunction with Henry James Pye, the poet laureate, whose daughter Arnold had married in 1803. 'Man and Wife, or More Secrets than One,' a comedy produced at Drury Lane in 1809, enjoyed some thirty representations.
In this year Arnold obtained from the Lord Chamberlain a license to open as an English opera house the Lyceum in the Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
, a building previously devoted to subscription concerts, picture exhibitions, feats of horsemanship, conjuring, etc. Upon the destruction of Drury Lane by fire in the same year, the company moved to the English Opera House, and remained there three seasons. The license had been originally granted in the belief that the house would be open only for four months in the summer, and would become a nursery of singers for the winter theatres. 'Up all Night, or the Smuggler's Cave,' ' Britain's Jubilee,' the 'Maniac, or Swiss Banditti,' 'Plots, or the North Tower,' are the titles of musical plays by Arnold presented by the Drury Lane company during their occupancy of the English Opera House. The theatre was afterwards open under his own management, when his operas of the 'King's Proxy,' the 'Devil's Bridge,' the ' Americans,' 'Frederick the Great,' 'Baron Trenck,' 'Broken Promises,' and dramas entitled 'Two Words,' 'Free and Easy,' &c., &c., were produced in succession. In 1811 he staged M.P.
M.P. (play)
M.P. is an 1811 comedy play by Thomas Moore first staged at the Lyceum Theatre by Samuel James Arnold. The plot concerns a Member of Parliament Sir Charles Canvas who has cheated his elder brother, a naval officer Captain Canvas, out of his inheritance...
, a comic play by Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
.
Hazlitt wrote in 1816 of Arnold's 'King's Proxy,' that it was 'the essence of four hundred rejected pieces … with all that is threadbare in plot, lifeless in wit, and sickly in sentiment. … Mr. Arnold writes with the fewest ideas possible; his meaning is more nicely balanced between sense and nonsense than that of any of his competitors; he succeeds from the perfect insignificance of his pretensions, and fails to offend through downright imbecility.' Arnold's 'Two Words,' however, Hazlitt pronounced 'a delightful little piece. It is a scene with robbers and midnight murder in it; and all such scenes are delightful to the reader or spectator. We can conceive nothing better managed than the plot of this.' In 1812 Arnold had been invited to undertake the direction of Drury Lane Theatre; he resigned his office on the death of Mr. Whitbread by his own hand in 1815. In 1816 the English Opera was reopened by Arnold, having been rebuilt upon an enlarged scale by Samuel Beazlfey, the architect, at a cost of 80,000l. In 1824 Arnold produced for the first time in England a version of Weber's 'Der Freischiitz,' which had been previously refused by the two patent theatres. Other foreign operas of note, the 'Tartare' of Salieri, the 'Freebooters' of Paer, the 'Robber's Bride' of Ferdinand Ries, and Marschner's 'Der Vampyr,' were afterwards produced at tlie English opera house for the first time in England. In 1880 the theatre was destroyed by fire. In 1833 the present Lyceum, also rebuilt by Samuel Beazley, was opened to the public. The English operas of 'Nourjahad' by Edward Loder, and the 'Mountain Sylph' by John Barnett, were produced under Arnold's management. Arnold was a magistrate and a fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
.