Charles Dibdin
(1745-1814), Songwriter and dramatistMid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 5 portraits
Artist associated with 1 portrait
A composer, author, actor, and theatrical manager whose sea songs and operas made him one of the most popular English composers of the late eighteenth century. He began his stage career as an actor, and his first operetta, The Shepherd's Artifice, was produced at Covent Garden in 1764. By 1778, when he became composer to Covent Garden, he had produced eight operas, including The Padlock (1768) and The Waterman (1774). In around 1789 he began his celebrated one-man 'table entertainments', in which he acted as author, singer, and accompanist. Most of his sea songs were written for these, including 'Tom Bowling', 'To Bachelors' Hall', 'Poor Jack' and 'Twas in the Good Ship Rover'.
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