THE CATCH CLUB.
TEE first meeting of this ancient and respectable club took place, at the Thatched House Tavern, on Tuesday last. The Catch Club forms almost the only link that connects any part of the fashionable world with the music of England. With the venerable and really noble Earl PORTESCUE at the head of its members, it still retains some hold upon the aristocracy of the country. To be a member of the Catch Club, implies the possession of a certain rank or station in society; and hence its numbers, probably from this very cause, have suffered no decline. That such a body should bestow the patronage which they offer to certain members of the profession with somewhat of " ungraz cious graciousness," is perhaps to be expected ; but it ought not to be forgotten that the yearly prizes which they offer for two glees have been the means of giving birth to some of the finest specimens of vo- cal writing that this or any other nation has produced. Nor has this truly English style of composition suffered decline even in these "last times.' It may become unfashionable, but it will never be extinct : the principle of vitality is inherent in the glee. Vocal music, capable of such boundless variety of style and structure of harmony as may be employed in this species of composition, must challenge, when effec-, tively performed, the admiration of all for whom melody and harmony have any charm. This alone can account for the attention which our first composers still give to glee-writing, and the finished specimens of it which they continue to produce. And it is a curious fact, that, notwithstanding the very few opportunities which the public enjoy of hearing compositions of this kind, and the very slender chance of pro- fit which their publication offers, there never was a period when the number of glee-writers was so large, or the numbers of excellent glees written (though not published) so numerous. If WEBEE and CAL- COTT, COOKE and BATTISHILL, survive only in their works, their mantle has descended upon their successors. The glees of HORSLEY, ATTWOOD, BISHOP, LINLEY, WALMISLEY, ELLIOT, and Goss, will not suffer by a comparison with most of those which enrich the ponderous collection Of WARREN.
To return from this digression to the subject which gave rise to it. The Catch Club met on Tuesday, in considerable strength; Lord SALTOUN being the President for the night. The number of members and of professional gentlemen present was unusually large for the first meeting. The selection of glees was excellent; and it is hardly necessary to add, they were admirably sung.
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