Charlotte Brent
Encyclopedia
Charlotte Brent was a child prodigy and celebrated soprano
singer of the 18th century.
She was the daughter of Charles Brent (1693–1770), a Handelian
counter-tenor
, and fencing
-master . She was a pupil and mistress of Thomas Arne (the composer of Rule, Britannia!
) and later the wife of the violinist Thomas Pinto (whom she married in 1766). She was also the step grandmother of the composer and keyboard virtuoso George Pinto
. Brent had a long musical partnership with Arne, often appearing in his opera productions and performing his works in concerts. Among the roles she originated were Mandane in Arne's Artaxerxes
, Sally in Arne's Thomas and Sally
, and Rosetta in Arne's Love in a Village
.
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
singer of the 18th century.
She was the daughter of Charles Brent (1693–1770), a Handelian
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
counter-tenor
Countertenor
A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
, and fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
-master . She was a pupil and mistress of Thomas Arne (the composer of Rule, Britannia!
Rule, Britannia!
"Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740...
) and later the wife of the violinist Thomas Pinto (whom she married in 1766). She was also the step grandmother of the composer and keyboard virtuoso George Pinto
George Pinto
George Pinto was an English composer and keyboard virtuoso.-Family:He was baptized at St. Mary's, Lambeth on February 11, 1786 as George Sanders. Accounts of Pinto's life and character are tenuous. There seems to be no surviving correspondence, nor did he have any descendants preserving a family...
. Brent had a long musical partnership with Arne, often appearing in his opera productions and performing his works in concerts. Among the roles she originated were Mandane in Arne's Artaxerxes
Artaxerxes (opera)
Artaxerxes is an opera in three acts composed by Thomas Arne set to an English adaptation of Metastasio's 1729 libretto Artaserse. The first English opera seria, Artaxerxes premiered on 2 February 1762 at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and continued to be regularly performed until the late 1830s...
, Sally in Arne's Thomas and Sally
Thomas and Sally
Thomas and Sally is a dramatic pastoral opera in two acts by the composer Thomas Arne with an English libretto by Isaac Bickerstaff...
, and Rosetta in Arne's Love in a Village
Love in a Village
Love in a Village is a ballad opera in three acts that was composed and arranged by Thomas Arne. A pastiche, the work contains 42 musical numbers of which only five were newly composed works by Arne. The other music is made up of 13 pieces borrowed from Arne's earlier stage works, a new overture...
.