The part song was created in Great Britain, growing out of the
madrigal tradition (though initially with more emphasis on
homophonic harmony and less on
polyphonic part writing) and the 18th century
Glee.
Paul Hillier describes the Glee as "a uniquely English creation...the convivial music of all-male musical societies". The classic Glee is "essentially a work for unaccompanied men's voices, in not less than three parts...simpler [than the madrigal] in texture, less sophisticated in design, and generally based on the simplest kind of diatonic harmony". The part song was soon established as more suitable for mixed-voice choirs, its development marked by increasing complexity of form and contrapuntal content. Part songs were quickly seen as a commercial opportunity by music publishers. From the early 1840s
Novello and Co's
Musical Times and Singing Class Circular included a simple piece of choral music (alternating secular and sacred) inside every issue, which choral society members subscribed to collectively for the sake of the music. Early British composers of part songs include
R. J. S. Stevens,
John Liptrot Hatton,
Henry Smart and
George Alexander Macfarren, the latter renowned for his Shakespearean settings. Around the turn of the 20th century in the heyday of the part song,
Hubert Parry,
Charles Villiers Stanford and
Edward Elgar were the principal exponents, often bringing a high-minded seriousness to their settings of great English poetry both contemporary and from earlier epochs. More recent major contributors to the genre include
Ralph Vaughan Williams,
Granville Bantock,
Arnold Bax,
Peter Warlock,
Gustav Holst and
Benjamin Britten (his
Five Flower Songs of 1950). Interest declined rapidly from the 1950s as more specialist choirs began to champion the madrigal tradition. Composers have also successfully used the part song medium to make contemporary arrangements of traditional
folk songs, including those of
Scotland,
England,
Wales and
Ireland. Part songs can sometimes be sacred as well as secular. The unaccompanied
liturgical anthem can be closely related in form and texture.
Sullivan's
Five Sacred Partsongs were published in 1871. == In Europe ==