A glee is a type of English

part song A part song, part-song or partsong is a form of choral music that consists of a song to a secular or non-liturgical sacred text, written or arranged for several vocal parts. Part songs are commonly sung by an SATB choir, but sometimes for an all ...

composed during the Late Baroque, Classical, and early Romantic periods, that is to say, the

Georgian era The Georgian era was a period in British history from 1714 to , named after the Hanoverian Kings George I, George II, George III and George IV. The definition of the Georgian era is often extended to include the relatively short reign of Will ...

. The respectable and artistic character of glees contrasts with the bawdiness of the many catches which continued to be composed and sung well into the early years of the 19th century. The use of the

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist ...

voice on the upper part(s) in glees composed for men's voices, and on the Alto part(s) in those for mixed voices, is a particular characteristic of the form (the most famous exponent, known for his elegant ornamentation, was William Knyvett) and serves to distinguish glees from other male voice partsongs, which usually lack countrapuntal writing and have the top part taken by a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

. This gives them a highest note around a major third below that of men's voice glees. Some care is required in interpreting the intended voicing of glees in contemporary editions, due to the gradual replacement, taking place at this time, of the C

clef A clef (from French: 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical stave. Placing a clef on a stave assigns a particular pitch to one of the five lines, which defines the pitc ...

with the treble clef but often without the required octave transposition being specified.

Form

The term "glee" has been as loosely used as

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number ...

, from whose rediscovery the impulse for glee composition likely grew (that, at least, was John Callcott's opinion). Glees, although often in simple

binary form Binary form is a musical form in 2 related sections, both of which are usually repeated. Binary is also a structure used to choreograph dance. In music this is usually performed as A-A-B-B. Binary form was popular during the Baroque period, of ...

, 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 often turned to near-contemporary poets for their texts on pastoral themes, as well as sources as diverse as

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

Nicholas Breton Nicholas Breton (also Britton or Brittaine) (c. 1545/53 – c. 1625/6) was a poet and prose writer of the English Renaissance. Life Nicholas belonged to an old family settled at Layer Breton, Essex. His father, William Breton, a London merchan ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and Milton or translations of Classical poets or even

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

. Some composers also used texts from more Romantic sources such as James Macpherson's

Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora'' (1763), and later combined unde ...

ic epics. The form was very flexible and text-driven and could therefore be a great deal more complex in terms of variety of texture and freedom of expression than that of the post-Mendelssohnian, Romantic

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'. Many glees in fact use madrigalian contrapuntal procedures as part of their tapestry of effects. Other composers successfully juxtaposed sections in the French Overture style and

style galant In music, galant refers to the style which was fashionable from the 1720s to the 1770s. This movement featured a return to simplicity and immediacy of appeal after the complexity of the late Baroque era. This meant simpler, more song-like melodie ...

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 Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing the ...

or other instrumental accompaniment. A notable example of the simpler sort of glee is ''Glorious Apollo'', by

Samuel Webbe Samuel Webbe (1740 – 25 May 1816) was an English composer. Life Born in Menorca in 1740, Webbe was brought up in London. His father died when he was still an infant, and his mother returned to London where she raised Webbe in difficult c ...

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.

History

The first song to be described as a glee was ''Turn, Amaryllis, to thy Swain'' by Thomas Brewer and a few so-called glees were produced during the remainder of the 17th century but the heyday of the glee was in the years between 1750 and 1850. The form began to grow in importance with the establishment in the early 18th century of gentlemen's singing, or vocal music clubs in London from around 1726 when the Academy of Vocal Music (renamed the Academy of Ancient Music in 1731) was established. These clubs comprised select groups of enthusiasts whose members and guests included well-known musicians, in particular organists and professional singing men from major churches in addition to the amateur gentlemen. Much of the music was for men's voices, and any soprano parts were usually sung by a small group of boys (church choristers). Ladies were rarely present except as listeners. Glees were scored for from three to eight voices and the more elaborate of them are ideally intended to be sung

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

, one to a part, by professional choral or solo singers. The first of the great Georgian clubs specifically to embrace the glee was the

Noblemen and Gentlemen's Catch Club In music, a catch is a type of round or canon at the unison. That is, it is a musical composition in which two or more voices (usually at least three) repeatedly sing the same melody, beginning at different times. Generally catches have a secula ...

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). 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

, aimed at larger choirs. By the mid-20th century, the glee was seldom performed. Since then, however, professional singing groups have performed and recorded glees with some success.

Glee clubs

From around 1850, as larger choral societies supplanted the earlier clubs, the term "

glee club A glee club in the United States is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it w ...

" 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 Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song " Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of '' The Beggar's Opera'', wh ...

* Samuel Arnold *

Luffman Atterbury Luffman Atterbury (died 1796), was an English carpenter, builder and musician. Atterbury studied the harpsichord, composition, and harmony in the leisure time he could spare from his business, which was carried on in Turn Again Lane, Fleet Mark ...

* Thomas Attwood *

Jonathan Battishill Jonathan Battishill (May 1738 – 10 December 1801) was an English composer, keyboard player, and concert tenor. He began his career as a composer writing theatre music but later devoted himself to working as an organist and composer for the Ch ...

* William Beale * Thomas Brewer * John Callcott *

Benjamin Cooke Benjamin Cooke (1734 – 14 September 1793) was an English composer, organist and teacher. Cooke was born in London and named after his father, also Benjamin Cooke (1695/1705 – 1743), a music publisher based in Covent Garden (active fr ...

William Crotch William Crotch (5 July 177529 December 1847) was an English composer and organist. According to the American musicologist Nicholas Temperley, Crotchwas "a child prodigy without parallel in the history of music", and was certainly the most dist ...

* John Danby * John Goss * William Hayes *

William Horsley William Horsley (18 November 177412 June 1858) was an English musician. His compositions were numerous, and include amongst other instrumental pieces three symphonies for full orchestra. More important are his glees, of which he published fi ...

* George William Martin * Lord Mornington * James Nares *

William Paxton William Paxton may refer to: Politicians * William F. Paxton (born 1946), American politician from Kentucky * William A. Paxton (1837–1907), American politician and businessman from Nebraska * Sir William Paxton (British businessman) (1744–18 ...

* Reginald Spofforth *

John Stafford Smith John Stafford Smith (bapt. 30 March 175021 September 1836) was a British composer, church organist, and early musicologist. He was one of the first serious collectors of manuscripts of works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Smith is best known for ...

* R. J. S. Stevens *

John Andrew Stevenson Sir John Andrew Stevenson (November 1761 – 14 September 1833) was an Irish composer. He is best known for his piano arrangements of ''Irish Melodies'' with poet Thomas Moore. He was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Dublin and ...

Stephen Storace Stephen John Seymour Storace (4 April 1762 – 19 March 1796) was an English composer of the Classical era, known primarily for his operas. His sister was the famous opera singer Nancy Storace. He was born in London in the Parish of St Maryleb ...

* T. A. Walmisley *

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