Glee (music) - Examples

Examples

A notable, if not entirely typical, example of a glee is Glorious Apollo, a composition by Samuel Webbe Sr., written in 1787 as a theme song for the newly founded London Glee Club. 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.

Another of Webbe's glees is Discord!, whose first movement is based on a passage from Iliad and whose second is based on a verse which, it is thought, he composed himself.