ARNOLD, JOHANN GOTTFRIED * Niedernhall near Öhringen (Hohenlohe) February 1, 1773 | † Frankfurt/Main July 26, 1806; cellist and composer
He was the son of the schoolmaster of Niedernhall near Öhringen in Württemberg. From early childhood, he showed such passion and talent for music that his father apprenticed him to the town musician of the neighboring town of Künzelsau at the age of twelve. During this time, he devoted himself primarily to playing the cello, which he pursued with such zeal under the influence of a very demanding master that he allegedly permanently damaged his health.
His apprenticeship ended in 1789, and the following year he took up his first permanent position in Wertheim, where his uncle, Friedrich Adam Arnold, was established as music director. He continued his studies with undiminished energy. After concert tours in Switzerland and Germany, he spent some time in Regensburg to take lessons from the talented cellist Maximilian Willmann. In order to constantly improve, he visited Berlin and Hamburg, where he had the good fortune to meet Bernhard Romberg, whose style and method he studied with great benefit.
In 1799, he was appointed principal cellist at the Frankfurt Theater, where he devoted much of his time to composition and enjoyed great renown both as a performer and as a teacher. However, the career of this young and talented artist was cut short when he died of lung disease in 1806 at the age of only thirty-four.