The Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, founded in 1866, is the oldest glee club

Glee club

A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs—glees—by trios or quartets. In the late 19th Century it was very popular in most schools and was made a tradition...

 not associated with a university in the United States. An early men's glee club that traveled up and down the eastern seaboard of the United States, the Mendelssohn helped to popularize classical music before symphony orchestras were widespread.

The group had an idiosyncratic style and were known for the exclusiveness of their home performances, which were invitation-only affairs at the group's home base, Mendelssohn Hall. The Hall was designed by member Robert Henderson Robertson

Robert Henderson Robertson

Robert Henderson Robertson was an American architect who designed numerous houses, institutional buildings and churches.-Life and career:...

 and constructed through a donation from Alfred Corning Clark

Alfred Corning Clark

-Biography:He was born on November 14, 1844 to Edward Clark, a founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. He married and had as his children: Edward Severin Clark, Robert Sterling Clark, Frederick Ambrose Clark and Stephen Carlton Clark, Sr....

 in 1891-1892, and featured an 1100 seat auditorium, rehearsal space, apartments, and murals by the artist Robert Frederick Blum

Robert Frederick Blum

Robert Frederick Blum was an American artist born in Cincinnati, Ohio.He was employed for a time in a lithographic shop, and studied at the McMicken Art School of Design in Cincinnati, and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, but he was practically self-taught, and early...

. Among the Club's tenants was the artist Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer was an American landscape painter and printmaker, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th century America and a preeminent figure in American art....

, who once offered to sketch the club in payment for his back rent. The Club lost its lease on the hall in 1911 and was forced to seek other quarters.

Directors and members

The first significant conductor of the Mendelssohn Glee Club, Joseph Mosenthal

Joseph Mosenthal

Joseph Mosenthal was a German-American musician, born at Kassel. He studied under his father and Spohr and in 1853 went to America, where he played the organ in Calvary Church, New York City, from 1860 to 1887...

, helped to popularize the group through his dramatic conducting style. The group was subsequently conducted by Cesare Sodero

Cesare Sodero

Cesare Sodero was an Italian conductor who spent much of his career working in the United States.Born in Naples, Sodero studied with Giuseppe Martucci, and graduated from the Naples Conservatory at fourteen...

, later notable for conducting Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...

 operas at the Met

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

. Other conductors included Frank Damrosch

Frank Damrosch

Frank Heino Damrosch was a German-born American music conductor and educator.-Biography:He was born on June 22, 1859 in Breslau, and came to the United States with his father, Leopold Damrosch, and brother, Walter Damrosch in 1871. He had studied music in Germany under Dionys Pruckner. He studied...

 and Edward MacDowell

Edward MacDowell

Edward Alexander MacDowell was an American composer and pianist of the Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites "Woodland Sketches", "Sea Pieces", and "New England Idylls". "Woodland Sketches" includes his most popular short piece, "To a Wild Rose"...

; it is currently conducted by Gene Wisoff.

Notable members included tenor soloist Richard Crooks

Richard Crooks

Richard Alexander Crooks was an American tenor and a leading singer at the New York Metropolitan Opera.-Biography:He was born on June 26, 1900 in Trenton, New Jersey...

, baritone soloist and composer Oley Speaks

Oley Speaks

Oley Speaks was an accomplished composer and songwriter who was born in Canal Winchester, Franklin County, Ohio...

, operatic and concert basso Herbert Witherspoon

Herbert Witherspoon

Herbert Witherspoon was an American bass singer and opera manager.-Biography:A native of Buffalo, New York, Herbert Witherspoon graduated from Yale University in 1895 where he had performed as a member of the Glee Club. After leaving school he studied music with Horatio Parker, Edward MacDowell,...

, and architect Robert Henderson Robertson

Robert Henderson Robertson

Robert Henderson Robertson was an American architect who designed numerous houses, institutional buildings and churches.-Life and career:...

. Among the group's notable musical guests were Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur

Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur

Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur was the wife of the 21st President of the United States, Chester A. Arthur.-Early life:...

, the wife of future president Chester A. Arthur

Chester A. Arthur

Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...

, and future Metropolitan Opera stars Lica Albanese and Aprile Millo.

Influence

As an early traveling classical ensemble, the group had wide influence. A trip to Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 in 1871 resulted in the formation of the Apollo Club of Boston

Apollo Club of Boston

The Apollo Club of Boston, founded in 1871, is the second-oldest continuously active men’s singing group in the United States.Before the advent of radio, the club was a major source of entertainment for well-to-do Bostonians. In 1874, the Apollo Club sang at the funeral services of Massachusetts...

 and influenced the formation of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Boston Symphony Orchestra

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...

, the Orpheus Club of Philadelphia

Orpheus Club of Philadelphia

The Orpheus Club is a men's chorus in Philadelphia. The Orpheus club was founded on December 7, 1872. The original Orpheus club was led by conductor Michael Cross Hurley. The current conductor of the group is John Shankweiler....

, and the Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

.