Arnold, Samuel (1740-1802)

Samuel Arnold (1740-1802) was the most popular composer for the London stage of the late 18th-century. Among his greatest successes were The Castle of Andalusia (1782), an early gothic fantasy, and Inkle and Yarico (1787), the first anti-slavery opera. The Incidental Music to Macbeth (1778) is one of a half-dozen ‘Shakespeare’ pieces by Arnold. The focus of Arnold’s music for the play is ‘Scottishness’; five of the eight pieces are based on Scottish folksong and two are new composed in quasi-Scots style. All the music is intended to engender strong associative qualities with Scottish feudal society.