I shared in the past my research on some of the clubs surrounding Catch and Glee: Regency Pastimes: The Nobleman’s Catch Club and the Glee Club

which was sparked after seeing a lot of newspaper reports like this, while researching my book Masquerade Balls in Regency Britain:

Morning Advertiser – Tuesday 29 December 1829

That post focused on the many gentlemen catch and glee clubs that sprung up across Britain between the 1760s and 1850s.  These clubs signaled the wild craze of catch and glee signing, particularly for amateurs.  A whole industry of publications were produced so that people could sing catches and glees at home and at parties, with books even produced just for the ladies.

Smith, J. S. (1799). A Fifth Book of Canzonets, Catches, Canons&Glees, sprightly and plaintive, with a part for the Piano-Forte subjoined where necessary, etc. United Kingdom: Author.

Which was fortunate, because organized ladies catch or glee clubs were minimal, and they would seldom get invites to either be in the audience or sometimes sing for the gentlemen’s clubs. Nonetheless, their patronage was essential to lifting up the popular music (Blake, B. (2021). Advertising the English Glee to Women, 1750–1800. The Oxford Handbook of Music and Advertising, 34.).

The success of catch and glee likely resulted from numerous socio-political forces, including the sense of this style of singing as distinctly “English” and representing Englishness (Robins, B. (2000). The catch club in 18th-century England. Early Music, 28(4), 517-529.) at a time when national identity was becoming increasingly important.  Feeding the crazy were competitions and prizes (Price, C. (2019). Catch and Glee Club prizes in the long nineteenth century: nurturing a’national music’. Competitions in Nineteenth-Century Music Culture.) In fact, glee and catch were, during this stretch in the Georgian, Regency, and early Victorian eras at their height of popularity, fostered by the culture of pubs, taverns, pleasure gardens, and other events that encouraged “sociable signing” (Price, C. (2020). The English Glee. Lied und populäre Kultur/Song and Popular Culture, 65, 35-54.). Catch and glee was accessible to everyone, and a group activity, that landed solidly in the “middle-brow” category below the more formal operas and concerts of the day.

I found in my research this absolutely to be the case; a masquerade report rarely did not feature a mention of a group, either in character or not, busting in to catch and glee.

You can read about some these spontaneous, and planned performances in my book:

Readers are saying: “fascinating read and it really opened the doors to see what masquerades were really like in the era of Bridgerton and other of my favorite period dramas”

“I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the social history of the Regency period, especially those curious about the cultural and performative aspects of elite society.  It’s a valuable resource for researchers..”

“This fascinating work of scholarship is a feast for the imagination. The level of detail is incredible; the author definitely did her research!… it is a must-read for anyone who enjoys reading or writing about the Regency era in England.”

Now available in the UK or for pre-order in US