Editing Michael Arne (section)

===Early life and career===
[[Image:Susanna Cibber.jpg|thumb|230px|right|'''Susanna Maria Cibber''' (née Arne) (1714 – 1766) was the greatest dramatic actress of the eighteenth-century London stage and was the highest-paid actress in England during her lifetime. On the day of her death [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] and [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane]] closed their doors as a tribute to her memory.<ref name="Cibber">Molly Donnelly: "Susanna Maria Cibber", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed 15 January 2008), [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)]</ref>]]
Michael Arne was born most likely in 1740 in the [[Covent Garden]] area of [[London]]. Music historian [[Charles Burney]], a close friend of the Arne family, indicates that he was Thomas Arne's natural son but there is some speculation among modern scholars that he may have been adopted.<ref name=hoasm>[http://www.hoasm.org/VIIJ/ArneM.html Biography Michael Arne at www.hoasm.org]</ref> There is no record for Michael Arne at [[St Paul's, Covent Garden]], where most of the Arne family were christened.<ref name="Grove">John A. Parkinson: "Michael Arne", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed 14 January 2009), [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516041031/http://www.grovemusic.com/ |date=16 May 2008 }}</ref> His father, Thomas Arne, was the most important English theatrical composer of the eighteenth century and is considered the catalyst for the revival of English opera in the early 1730s.<ref name="Grove2">Peter Holman, Todd Gilman: "Thomas Augustine Arne", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed 15 January 2009), [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516041031/http://www.grovemusic.com/ |date=16 May 2008 }}</ref>  His mother, Cecilia Young, was one of the greatest English sopranos of the century and part of the famous Young family of musicians. Both Michael's grandfather, [[Charles Young (musician)|Charles Young]], and his great-uncle, [[Anthony Young (musician)|Anthony Young]], were well known [[organist]]s and minor [[composer]]s. His [[Isabella Lampe|Aunt Isabella]] was a successful soprano and the wife of composer [[John Frederick Lampe]]. His other aunt, [[Esther Young]], was a [[contralto]] and the wife of music publisher [[Charles Jones (publisher)|Charles Jones]]. His cousins, [[Isabella Young|Isabella]], [[Elizabeth Young (contralto)|Elizabeth]], and [[Polly Young|Polly]], were all successful singers in their own right.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hosting.triboni.com/triboni/exec?method=com.operissimo.artist.webDisplay&id=ffcyoieagxaaaaabbwsk&xsl=webDisplay&searchStr=Cecilia%20Young|title=Cecilia Young|work=[[Operissimo concertissimo]]|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717100818/http://hosting.triboni.com/triboni/exec?method=com.operissimo.artist.webDisplay&id=ffcyoieagxaaaaabbwsk&xsl=webDisplay&searchStr=Cecilia%20Young|archivedate=17 July 2011}}</ref>

After 1745 Michael spent the majority of his childhood in the care of his aunt and celebrated actress [[Susannah Maria Cibber]] due to his mother's frequent illnesses and his father's busy career. It is likely that he received his earliest musical training from his aunt.<ref name=hoasm/> It was also under her mentorship that he made his stage début as the Page in [[Thomas Otway]]’s tragedy ''[[The Orphan (play)|The Orphan]]'' in the late 1740s.<ref name="Grove"/> He began his musical career as a singer appearing in [[Francesco Onofrio Manfredini]]’s concert on 20 February 1750.<ref name="Grove"/> This was followed by several singing appearances at the [[Vauxhall Gardens]] in the summer of 1750 where his father was the resident composer.<ref name=hoasm/> However, Michael's career as a vocalist and actor was not prolonged for much longer. [[Charles Burney]] wrote that Michael's father "tried to make him a singer, but he was naturally idle and not very quick. However, he acquired a powerful hand on the harpsichord".<ref name="Burney">{{cite book 
|title = A General History of Music from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period|last = Burney|first = Charles|editor = F. Mercer|year = 1935|publisher = Oxford Publishing Company|orig-year = 1776-1789}}</ref> Michael's obvious lack of enthusiasm for singing prevailed and he focused primarily on music composition and organ and harpsichord performance after the summer of 1750. On 5 February 1751 he gave his first solo organ concert, which featured one of his father's organ concertos; he went on to be the principal exponent of his father's organ works for the next thirty years. Arne also showed an early talent as a composer, and his first collection of vocal art songs entitled ''The Floweret'' was published in 1750. The collection included the Scottish-style song "The Highland Laddie", which became popular and as late as 1775 was adapted by [[Thomas Linley the elder]] in ''[[The Duenna]]''.<ref name="Grove"/>