GLEE is a musical term for a part song of a particular kind. The word, as well as the thing, is essentially confined to England. The technical meaning has been explained in different ways; but there is little doubt of its derivation from the Anglo-Saxon “gleov, gleo,” gaudium, delectamentum, and hence ludus musicus. Gleeman, Anglo-Saxon “gleo-man,” is translated simply as “musicus” or “cantor,” to which the less distinguished titles of “mimus, jocista, scurra,” are frequently added in old dictionaries. The accomplishments and social position of the gleeman seem to have been as varied as those of the Provençal “joglar.” To return to the word “glee,” there are early examples of its being used as synonymous with harmony or concerted music. The former explanation, for instance, is given in the Promptorium Parvulorum, a work of the 15th century. Glee in its present meaning signifies, broadly speaking, a piece of concerted vocal music, generally unaccompanied, and for male voices, though exceptions are found to the last two restrictions. The number of voices ought not to be less than three. As regards musical form, the glee is little distinguished from the catch,—the two terms being often used indiscriminately for the same song; but there is a distinct difference between it and the madrigal— one of the earliest forms of concerted music known in England. While the madrigal does not show a distinction of contrasted movements, this feature is absolutely necessary in the glee. In the madrigal the movement of the voices is strictly contrapuntal, while the more modern form allows of freer treatment and more compact harmonies. Differences of tonality are fully explained by the development of the art, for while the madrigal reached its acme in Queen ...