(born March 12, 1710, London, Eng.—died March 5, 1778, London) British composer. Son of a London upholsterer, he secretly taught himself instrumental skills and composition with the help of an opera musician. Smitten by the opera, he had an early success with his own first opera, Rosamond (1733), and thereafter concentrated almost exclusively on the theatre.
As composer to Drury Lane Theatre and London's great pleasure gardens, he became Britain's leading theatrical composer and, after George Frideric Handel, possibly the finest British composer of the century. Of his approximately 90 theatrical works, the best known are Comus (1738), The Judgment of Paris (1740), and Artaxerxes (1762). His song “Rule, Britannia” became an unofficial national anthem. His sister Susannah (1714–66) was the famous singer and actress known as Mrs. Cibber.
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