William Arnold

ARNOLD, William. b. 1768; d. 1832. He was a shipwright in the dockyard at Portsmouth, and choirmaster at Daniel Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Portsmouth. He published Original Psalm & Hymn Tunes, with 57 tunes, in the early years of the 19th century; the British Library catalogue gives [1810?] as the date. According to James T. Lightwood (The Music of the Methodist Hymn Book, 1935, p. 400) he composed some of his tunes at work and wrote them down on pieces of wood, but this does not seem likely except possibly as an occasional practice. Three of his tunes became well known: SARAH, for ‘O Lord our God, arise’*, usually attributed to Ralph Wardlaw*. It was included among the...

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