Editing Michael Arne (section)

===Later life and career===
[[Image:Covert Garden Theatre edited.jpg|thumb|250px|A drawing of the [[Royal Opera House]], [[Covent Garden]], where Michael Arne primarily worked from 1777 until his death. This drawing was made shortly before the theatre burned down in 1808. Many of Arne's compositions dating from his time there, along with a large amount composed by his father, were destroyed in this fire and are now lost.<ref name="Grove"/>]]
Up until this point Arne had spent his entire career working in London. However, in 1771–1772 he traveled to Germany, touring the country in a series of concerts with his pupil Ann Venables. He notably conducted the German premiere of [[Handel]]'s ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]'' in Hamburg on 21 May 1772. After returning to England in the Fall of 1772 he married Miss Venables.<ref name="operissimo">[http://hosting.triboni.com/triboni/exec?method=com.operissimo.composer.webDisplay&id=ffcyoindnoaaaaaaopqf&xsl=webDisplay&searchStr=Arne Biography of Michael Arne at Operissimo.com (in German). Accessed 13 January 2008]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>  He also spent some time working in [[Dublin]], [[Ireland]] in 1775–1776. His opera ''The Maid of the Vale'' premiered at the [[Smock Alley Theatre]] in Dublin on 12 February 1775, and in December 1776 he was engaged by [[Thomas Ryder (actor)|Thomas Ryder]] to produce ''Cymon'' in Dublin. Both productions featured his wife in leading roles and she became a highly popular attraction to the Dublin community.<ref name="Grove"/>

While in Ireland, Arne began to pursue alchemy once more and he took a house at Clontarf in the hopes of discovering the [[philosopher's stone]]. His pursuits again led him into debt, and he was arrested and confined to a Dublin [[sponging-house]]. While there he was assisted by the father of [[Michael Kelly (tenor)|Michael Kelly]], later a famous tenor, who provided him with a piano in return for young Kelly's daily lesson. In this way Arne was able to teach students and thereby earn money to pay off his creditors.<ref name="Grove"/>

The Arnes returned to London in 1777, and Michael was engaged as composer at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] for several seasons. In 1781 he was notably hired to provide a harpsichord accompaniment for ''Eidophusikon'', a display of moving pictures. In 1784–1785 he worked at the [[Haymarket Theatre]] as the director and conductor of the [[Lent]]en [[Oratorio]]s. Upon his father's death in 1778, Michael inherited the majority of his father's assets, which included a number of unpublished manuscripts. Included among these were several organ concertos written in 1750s, and in 1784 Michael announced his intention to publish them. However, Michael died in poverty without having done so, leaving his wife destitute. The organ concertos were preserved and later published in 1787 by [[John Groombridge]].<ref name="Grove"/>

Michael Arne had a daughter Sarah who was a leading singer at Drury Lane from 1795 to 1800. It is uncertain as to whether she was a daughter from his second or third marriage. Records also indicate that he had a daughter known as Jemima who nursed him while he was ill at the end of his life. It is possible that Jemima and Sarah may be the same person, or that they are indeed two different people.<ref name="Grove"/>