Cecilia Young

Cecilia Young ( baptized on 7. February 1712 in London , † 6. October 1789 ibid) was an English e singer ( soprano ) from a musical family. At times she worked with George Frideric Handel composed and was the wife of the famous composer en Thomas Augustine Arne , which is why they also called Cecilia Arne , Cecilia Young-Arne or as Mrs. Arne is known.

Life

Cecilia was a daughter of the organist and composer Charles Young and had two sisters who were also singers: Isabella, who was married to the composer John Frederick Lampe (Mrs. Lampe), and Ester or Hester (Mrs. Jones). Three daughters of her brother (and organist) Charles Young - Isabella (Mrs. Scott), Elisabeth (Mrs. Dorman) and Mary or Polly (Mrs. Barthélémon) - were also singers. In the sources all of these singers appear in part under the name " Mrs. Young ", which is why it is not always clear which of them is meant.

The Theater Royal Drury Lane

Cecilia Young received her musical training from Francesco Geminiani , from whom she learned her Italian bel canto technique. Geminiani also had her sing for the first time publicly on March 4, 1730, in a concert at the Drury Lane Theater .

She made her operatic debut at the Haymarket Theater on November 16, 1732 as Britannia in the opera of the same name by her brother-in-law Lampe . In February 1733 she was supposed to sing the title role in Willem de Fesch's oratorio Judith , but had to be replaced by another singer due to illness.

Cecilia was probably the "Miss Young" who appeared on April 16, 1733 at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater as Penelope in John Christopher Smith's Ulysses , alongside the contralto Jane Barbier in the title role.

In addition to her stage work, she often sang in concerts, a. a. in the York Building's, Stationer's Hall, and Swan Tavern.

georg Friedrich Handel

Her collaboration with Handel began in 1734 with the Pasticcio Oreste at the Covent Garden Opera . He usually used it as seconda donna and composed the roles of Dalinda in Ariodante (premiere: January 8) and the Morgana in Alcina (premiere: April 16) for her in 1735 . In both operas she stood next to the two stars Anna Maria Strada and Giovanni Carestini on stage. The fact that Cecilia Young had a remarkable ability to coloratura is testimony to Handel's aria Tornami a vagheggiar from Alcina , which was later often sung by the singers of the title role (including Joan Sutherland ) because of its attractive virtuosity .

Cecilia also sang in Handel's oratorios Deborah (as Jael; March 28) and Athalia (title role; London premiere on April 1), and in February 1736 in the world premiere of Das Alexanderfest . In 1739 she was the first Merab in Handel's Saul and also sang in Pescetti's opera Angelica e Medoro .

On March 15, 1737, she married Thomas A. Arne in a Catholic wedding ceremony, which her Protestant (or Anglican ) father never forgave her.

From 1737 to 1739 she sang at Drury Lane, Covent Garden and the King's Theater . Then she was at Drury Lane until 1742, and helped Arne's operas Comus (text: Milton ), The Tempest , Alfred (with the famous " Rule, Britannia ") and Rosamond to success.

From 1742 to 1744 the Arne couple was in Dublin , Ireland , where they sang in various oratorios at Aungier Street Theater, and again in Comus and Rosamond . On January 9, 1744, she tried in the play The Dragon of Wantley for the first time as an actress in a comic role.

After her return to England in September 1744, she sang frequently and with great success at the Drury Lane Theater and at concerts in Vauxhall and other London " pleasure gardens ", where she made Arnes songs particularly popular.

Thomas Augustine Arne

The marriage with Thomas Arne was unfortunately not a happy one. It is said that he was not loyal, and that their son Michael Arne , born in 1741 , who also became a composer, was not Cecilia's son at all, but an illegitimate child of Thomas. However, Cecilia seems to have had a good and close relationship with Michael. Her health suffered from the unhappy marriage situation and she was able to appear in public less and less. One of Arne's students also claimed that Cecilia was drinking . 1748-49 she traveled without her husband, but together with her sister Isabella (Mrs. Lampe) and her husband John Frederick Lampe to Dublin, where she sang in Handel's pastoral Acis and Galatea , and in his oratorios Esther and Solomon . In London she had an engagement at Covent Garden between 1750 and 1752 and took part in a benefit concert for Michael Arne in the Theater at the Haymarket on February 5, 1751, including in The Judgment of Paris by her husband Thomas Arne (text: Congreve ).

Her last operatic role was Britannia in her husband's opera Eliza in May 1754 at the New Theater in London.

In 1755 she was back in Dublin with her husband, her sister Hester and her nieces Mary (Polly) and Elizabeth; Thomas' student, the singer Charlotte Brent , who later became a favorite of the London audience, was also there. After a quarrel, the Arne couple finally broke up and Thomas traveled back to London alone. Cecilia stayed in Dublin, but her health deteriorated so much that she could no longer perform and ran into financial difficulties. With singing lessons she tried to keep herself and her 9 year old niece Polly (Mary) afloat. Mrs. Delany , a well-known admirer of Handel, met her there and reported that Cecilia was in a pitiful state and that her voice had lost its former charm .

In 1762 Cecilia Young was back in London. She last lived with her niece Mary (Polly), who was married to the violinist and composer François-Hippolyte Barthélémon , and after a long break she sang one last time in public on May 16, 1774 in a benefit concert for Mary.

Thomas Arne, who had been very hardhearted towards his wife over the years, was reconciled with Cecilia in 1777, just a few months before his death, and in a later attack of repentance also included her in his will . Among other things, he used them as beneficiaries in his works.

For Charles Burney , Cecilia Young was the best English singer of her time (approx. 1735–50), she had a good natural voice and a fine trill (" a good natural voice and a fine shake ") and her style was "all other English women" infinitely superior ”(“ her style of singing was infinitely superior to that of any other English woman of her time ”). The composer Dibdin praised the "sweetness and simplicity" ( " sweetness and simplicity ") of her singing.

literature

• Olive Baldwin & Thelma Wilson: Young, Cecilia (Mrs Arne) , in: The Grove Book of Opera Singers , Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 543, online as Google Book (English; accessed June 30, 2020)
• Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: Arne, Mrs Thomas Augustine, Cecilia, née Young , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660– 1800 , Vol. 1 (Abaco to Belfille), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 117–120, online as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 30, 2020)
• Karl-Josef Kutsch, Leo Riemens: Young, Cecilia , in: Großes Sängerlexikon , Vol. 4, 4th edition, KG Saur, Munich, 2003 (2012), p. 5122, in excerpts as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 30, 2020)

Web links

• Cecilia Young-Arne , on the Quell'Usignolo website , with a list of CD recordings (French; accessed June 30, 2020)
• Susan Wessling: Cecilia Young , short bio on Encyclopedia.com (English; accessed June 30, 2020)

Individual proof

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r} Karl-Josef Kutsch, Leo Riemens: Young, Cecilia , in: Großes Sängerlexikon , Vol. 4, 4th edition, KG Saur, Munich, 2003 (2012), p. 5122, in excerpts as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 30, 2020)
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: Arne, Mrs Thomas Augustine, Cecilia, née Young , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , Vol. 1 (Abaco to Belfille), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 117–120, online as Google Book (English; accessed June 30, 2020)
3. ↑ WP = world premiere
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: Arne, Mrs Thomas Augustine, Cecilia, née Young , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers , Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , Vol. 1 (Abaco to Belfille), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 117–120, here: p. 118, online as a Google Book (English; accessed on 30 June 2020)
5. ↑ ^{a b} Cecilia Young-Arne , on the Quell'Usignolo website (French; accessed on June 30, 2020)
6. ↑ ^{a b} Susan Wessling: Cecilia Young , short bio on Encyclopedia.com (English; accessed on June 30, 2020)
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: Arne, Mrs Thomas Augustine, Cecilia, née Young , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , vol. 1 (Abaco to Belfille), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 117–120, here: p. 119, online as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 30, 2020 )
8. ↑ Olive Baldwin & Thelma Wilson: Young, Cecilia (Mrs Arne) , in: The Grove Book of Opera Singers , Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 543, online as Google Book (English; accessed June 30, 2020)
9. ^ Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: Arne, Mrs Thomas Augustine, Cecilia, née Young , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660 -1800 , Vol. 1 (Abaco to Belfille), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 117–120, here: pp. 118–119, online as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 30, 2020)
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: Arne, Mrs Thomas Augustine, Cecilia, née Young , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , Vol. 1 (Abaco to Belfille), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 117–120, here: p. 120, online as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 30, 2020)