Glee (music)

A glee is a type of English part song composed during the Late Baroque, Classical, and early Romantic periods, that is to say, the Georgian era. The respectable and artistic character of Glees contrasts with the bawdiness of many catches of the late 17th century, which, though probably thought inappropriate in female company, continued to be composed and sung well into the early years of the 19th C.. Most glees were originally composed to be sung in gentlemen's singing clubs, but frequently included soprano parts—which were sung by boys (church choristers) or by ladies who were often present as guests and/or professional singers. Glees can be scored for from three to eight voices and the more elaborate of them are ideally intended to be sung a cappella, one to a part, by professional choral or ensemble singers. The use of the countertenor voice on the upper part(s) in Glees composed for men's voices and on the Alto part(s) below the soprano in those for mixed voices is a particular characteristic of the form (the most famous exponent was William Knyvett), serving to distinguish it from German male voice music, in which the top part is taken by a tenor. Some care is required in interpreting the intended voicing of Glees in contemporary printed editions, due to the gradual replacement, taking place at this time, of the C Clef with the Treble Clef but often without the required ocatave transposition being specified.

Form

Glees, although often in simple binary form, can also be extended pieces consisting of a number of short movements contrasted in key and tempo, including so-called word-painting. Their texts can be convivial, fraternal, idyllic, tender, philosophical or even (occasionally) dramatic. Glee composers generally turned to near-contemporary poets for their texts, choosing lines from translations of Classical poets, not to mention James Macpherson's Ossianic epics, thus prefiguring the Romantic movement. The form was very flexible and often a great deal more complex in terms of variety of texture and freedom of expression than that of the post-Mendelssohnian, Romantic part song which largely superseded the Glee and was intended to be sung by choirs. Several Glee composers wrote pieces they described as madrigals, in imitation of the Renaissance style, the most famous being Thomas Linley Snr's 'Let me careless and unthoughtful lying'. Other composers successfully juxtaposed sections in the French Overture style and style galant with Affetuoso 3/4 movements and sections of robust Handelian fugal writing as well as short sections for solo or duetting voices. A very few glees have basso continuo or other instrumental accompaniment.

History

The first song to be described as a glee was Turn, Amaryllis, to thy Swain by Thomas Brewer. So-called Glees were occasionally produced during the remainder of the 17th century and increasingly so in the first half of the 18th century by such composers as John Travers and William Hayes. The heyday of the glee was in the years between 1750 and 1850. Perhaps inspired by a revival of the English madrigal (and other early music) by the Academy of Vocal (later Ancient) Music (founded 1726), English composers, unlike their continental contemporaries, began again to compose new, secular a cappella music not aimed at the stage, although Glees such as William Crotch's 'Mona on Snowdon calls' were sometimes introduced into stage productions. As the 19th century progressed, musical tastes changed along with social structures, and the glee as a musical form began to be replaced by the romantic Part song. By the mid-20th century, the glee had become a musical curiosity, little respected and seldom performed. However, professional singing groups have, since then, performed and recorded glees with some success.

Glee clubs

The first of the great Georgian clubs to embrace the glee was the Noblemen and Gentlemen's Catch Club of London, founded in 1761. Societies to sing, listen to and judge Glees whilst dining and drinking became popular in the 18th century and remained so well into the 19th century. Glee clubs were at their most active during the second half of the 18th century, encouraging the production of new glees by awarding prizes to their composers. For example, in 1763 the Catch Club was offering four prizes annually—two for glees (one serious, one cheerful), one for a catch and one for a canon. If Warren's Collection is typical, the catches were usually smutty and the canons religious. Participation by Italian musicians resident in London seem to have been welcomed. Other clubs included the Hibernian Catch Club (Dublin), the Gentlemen's Glee Club (Manchester) and the Apollo Glee Club (Liverpool). A notable example of the simpler sort of Glee is Glorious Apollo, by Samuel Webbe Sr., written in 1787 as a theme song for the newly founded London Glee Club, it is a vigorous piece for 3 voices (ATB). Webbe's glee took root with the Harvard Glee Club, the oldest such group in America, which still sings this song. Webbe wrote the text as well as the music, and in it he faithfully traced the London Glee Club's history; for the first couple of years, the meetings circulated among members' homes. This is reflected in the second line, which notes that the club was "wand'ring to find a temple for his praise." It finally found its "temple" when the club's meetings moved to the Newcastle Coffee House. Webbe's references to the gods of the Greek pantheon were part and parcel of the Georgian gentlemen's singing clubs' identification with the learning and leisure activities of the classical world. Webbe structured the poem so that the first two couplets of each verse were sung by solo voices, with all the members joining in at the refrain, "Thus then combining...".

Glorious Apollo

Glorious Apollo from on high beheld us,

Wand'ring to find a temple for his praise.

Sent Polyhymnia hither to shield us,

While we ourselves such a structure might raise.

Thus then combining, hands and hearts joining,

Sing we in harmony Apollo's praise.

Here ev'ry gen'rous sentiment awaking,

Music inspiring unity and joy.

Each social pleasure giving and partaking,

Glee and good humour our hours employ.

Thus then combining, hands and hearts joining,

Long may continue our unity and joy.

From around 1850, as larger choral societies supplanted the earlier clubs, the term glee club was increasingly used in the U.S.A. to describe collegiate ensembles performing 'glees' and other light music in informal circumstances. As these glee clubs began more to resemble standard choirs during the 20th century, the tradition of singing glees in a social context faded.

Notable Glee composers

Thomas Arne
Samuel Arnold
Luffman Atterbury
Thomas Attwood
Jonathan Battishill
William Beale
Thomas Brewer
John Callcott
Benjamin Cooke
William_Crotch
John Danby
John Goss
William Hayes
William Horsley
George William Martin
Lord Mornington
James Nares
William Paxton
Reginald Spofforth
John Stafford Smith
R. J. S. Stevens
T. A. Walmisley
Samuel Webbe Sr.

Notes

References

A Concise History of Music by H. G. Bonavia Hunt. George Bell and Sons: London, 1878
Musical Groundwork by Frederick J. Crowest. Frederick Warne and Company: London, 1890
Sketches of (the English) Glee Composers by David Baptie. William Reeves: London, 1896