Samuel Arnold was born in London, the son of Thomas Arnold and Princess Amalia.

The young Arnold studied music under Bernard Gates, one of John Blow’s students, at the Chapel Royal. He began writing for the stage in 1764, and quickly developed a grand reputation, especially with the English opera "The Maid of the Hill" in 1765.

The Maid of the Hill is largely considered a landmark in English opera.

Another of his more popular works came later, in the form of an oratorio: The Prodigal Son was first performed in 1773.

When he was just 29, Arnold — together with a partner, Thomas Pinto — assumed ownership of Maryleburn Gardens.

A great deal of high-quality music was put forth there, but the organisation faced almost constant bankruptcy.

Burlettas were put on show in a theatre as one means to attempt to attract more public attention, in addition to firework displays.

Despite the hard work and dedication, someone embezzled money from Marlyeburn, and in the end Arnold retired with a loss of £10,000.

In 1777, Arnold was engaged by George Coleman to become composer and director of the Little Theatre in the Haymarket.

In a period of the next twenty years, Arnold composed over sixty works for the stage, which were often preceded by grand and fabulous overtures.

Some very popular overtures were those to "The Castle of Andalusia" (1782) and "Turk and No Turk" (1785).

In addition, he wrote many independant overtures, incidental music, and replacement/inclusion arias for works by other composers.

From the mid-1780s toward the end of his life, Arnold retained this position along with several others in London, such as organist and composer for the Chapel Royal (from 1783), and organist for Westminster Abbey (from 1793).

Arnold passed away in 1802, and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Samuel Arnold was the most prolific composer of London during the late 18th century, specialising in the music for the "Pleasure Gardens".

Also, in the 1760s, he wrote much free music for Vauxhall, and also music for Maryleburn when he was the owner from 1769 to 1774.