Don Shea
UGC Historian (1999-2000)
The UGC is now enjoying its second millennium as a proud and joyful assembly of songsters, rich in traditions formed over more than a century, and rededicated to its founders' intent to "encourage male voice singing of the highest excellence." In a culture grown somewhat suspicious of male groups, this group of men continues to gather as it has since 1894 for no purpose more nefarious than the innocent pleasures of making a beautiful sound together, promoting fellowship through song, and having fun in the process. In pursuit of these pleasures, more than 1000 singers have signed our membership book since the club opened its doors.
At the beginning of a new millennium of song, we invite you to review a few highlights from our first 106 years, and a few thoughts about our future.
Beginnings
In 1886, John T. Walker, the leader of the Alumni Glee Club of Columbia College, came up with the idea of a male glee club composed of college graduates living in the New York area. It remained no more than an idea till 1892, when Walker’s group began discussions with other founding members from Yale, Princeton, New York University, Rochester, Cornell, and Union College.
The result was an informal group called the University Glee Club, which began to recruit worthy singers from other colleges. The club gave its first concert on May 8, 1894, at Mendelssohn Hall for the benefit of the University Settlement Association, an act of generosity that wound up costing the charity $75. (The gallant singers, 44 in number, promptly anted up and refunded the $75.)
The UGC was incorporated in New York State on July 2, 1894. Annual dues were $5. On January 26, 1895, fifty-two singers from 13 colleges and universities performed the first formal UGC concert at Madison Square Garden, led by Arthur D. Woodruff and featuring a guest performance by the immortal cellist Victor Herbert. The warm up act preceding the UGC was Miska’s Hungarian Band. The attendees included 126 associate (non-singing) members, among them such luminaries as Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, the Hon. Joseph Choate, Chauncy DePew, J. Arden Harriman, the Hon. Seth Low, and William B. Hornblower.
Mrs. J. Pierpont Morgan would sign up in time for the second concert in May, 1895. Perhaps Mrs. Rockefeller told her it was worth the $15 annual associate dues.
Rehearsals
Lifetime friendships are formed at the weekly rehearsals, and some music is learned as well. Phil Brett, a founding member and former Rutgers President, described the early rehearsals as follows.
The custom of that time was to have a keg of beer in the room adjoining the rehearsal hall. First the tenors were rehearsed while the basses drank beer. Then, the process was reversed; the basses tried to sing while the tenors wet their whistles. After this was over, Arthur Woodruff put all the parts together and attempted to finish the rehearsal. You may imagine the results! At the end of each rehearsal, the policeman on the beat came in, had his two glasses of beer, and said “Good night, God bless you, gentleman!” and left us to make as much noise as we pleased.
Rehearsals have changed a bit since those days. The spirit of conviviality remains, but the drinking is a tad more restrained and no longer takes place while our current conductor, Francisco Nunez, is trying to impart some modicum of musical discipline.
Concerts and Benefits
Since its inception, the UGC has offered two formal concerts annually, one in the winter and one in the spring. Our concerts have often featured invited guest performers and other college and university glee clubs.
Many of the early concerts were held at the Madison Square Garden Concert Hall, but that venue had its problems. Phil Brett wrote, “The Garden Theater was also connected to the main building where they held the annual Barnum & Bailey Circus. The smell of elephants permeated the music hall.” Perhaps fearful that the odor might become associated with the music, the club shifted its performances to the ballroom of the old Waldorf-Astoria, where they were held for many years thereafter. The UGC has also performed on a number of occasions at Carnegie Hall and St. Thomas Church. In recent years, Lincoln Center has been the favored venue for formal concerts.
In addition to the formal concerts, the UGC has performed benefit concerts and fund-raisers for many charitable, religious, and educational institutions over the years, and at least one noted penal institution. In 1916, the club went up the river for a performance at Sing Sing Prison. None of the UGC singers was required to remain behind as a result of the performance–indeed, the club archives noted that the prisoners particularly liked the spirituals.
Afterglows
It was never enough to simply rehearse and perform–from the beginning the UGC members sought each other’s company and the company of amusing and/or musically gifted friends in additional settings. The early UGC "smokers" preceded the afterglow tradition. The first recorded in club archives was held on May 3, 1902, when Gentleman Jim Corbett, the ex heavyweight boxing champion, accepted an invitation to referee a match between two UGC members as the club looked on. Gentleman Jim was unaware that the two contenders had slit their gloves before the fight and stuffed them with cranberries. He was appalled by the apparent carnage as the first blows were landed and the juice spurted all over the boxers.
Smokers were generally held twice a year, with informal singing, free flowing beer, and outside entertainers. Then, when the UGC began rehearsing at the National Republican Club in 1923, it became customary for members to gather after rehearsals for song and drink at the Club’s grill. By 1955, this custom had caught on to the point that a Director of Club Activities was appointed to assure an interesting blend of in-house events and invited singing groups, soloists, and musicians following the rehearsals. The afterglow had become an official tradition, and would become the occasion for many sub-traditions–Family Night, Joke Night, Freshman Show Night, Opera Night, St. Patrick’s Day Night–and two fierce competitions.
In 1923, a quartet called The Hambones comprised of UGC members became the first such group to sing over the radio, and subsequently achieved such success that the club paper, the Squeak & Squawk, threw down the gauntlet in 1930. “Are the Hambones so good that no one dares to challenge them?” The Hambones responded by donating the highly coveted and hotly contested Hambone Cup, to be awarded annually to the best quartet after a rigorous competition. In recent years, the winning four have also had the honor of performing at the spring concert.
Though perhaps less viciously pursued than the Hambone Cup, the Amateur Night contest for the Channing Lefebvre Memorial Gong has, over the years, certainly brought out the worst in some of our best members. Acts of enthusiastic excess have been common, though few have attained such heights as the gentleman who played two recorders in harmony, each stuck in opposite corners of his mouth, while swaying in rhythm on a balance board.
Special Events and Tours
“Hairy leg” theatricals were part of the club’s activities from the beginning, and by 1912, the annual Dinner Show had become a fixture. The tradition waned after WW II, to be brilliantly revived in the 1970s and 80s by Russell Ames, the club’s beloved accompanist of 33 years (1965-1997), who directed a string of UGC smash hits including Guys and Dolls, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Damn Yankees, Anything Goes, Fiorello, and Lil’ Abner. Some members, it was discovered, looked unexpectedly ravishing in drag, though no permanent lifestyle transformations have been reported.
Singing tours abroad are a more recent tradition. The first such tour was organized in 1939 at the invitation of the Danish government to celebrate the 75th birthday of their King, and cancelled on very short notice when Hitler marched into the Sudetenland. The idea was reborn in 1987 with a singing tour of England and Wales, followed over the years by tours of Scandinavia, Germany and Austria, Ireland and Scotland, and most recently Italy, where the club sang by invitation at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. The UGC has sung in concert with local singing clubs on each trip, and extended our hospitality to these and other visiting groups at home. Our European roving has resulted in surprisingly few arrests and detentions for a male band of 50 or more, no doubt largely due to the wives and significant others who accompany the tours and help provide appreciative audiences and a measure of restraint.
Two annual UGC gatherings are also worth noting. The Summerfest party in September, held since 1964 at the Larchmont Yacht Club, welcomes members back to fall rehearsals. Joe’s Night, a black tie stag dinner of story and song held each winter at the Players’ Club on Gramercy Park, honors departed member Joe Tinney. At the conclusion of festivities, other departed brothers in song are also mentioned and remembered.
Remembrance is not limited to Joe’s Night. One of the most enduring and appreciated traditions of the UGC is the appearance of a group of members to sing a song or two at the funerals of fallen fellow members, and to mourn the loss of the music and fellowship they provided.
Conductors
The UGC has had but five conductors in its 108-year history. The first, Dr. Arthur D. Woodruff, was conductor of the Columbia College Alumni Glee Club, which contributed 17 of the original 44 UGC members. He led the UGC for its first thirty years (1894-1924). The second, Dr. Marshall Bartholomew, took on the UGC in 1924 in addition to his duties as conductor of the Yale Glee Club, but returned to Yale full time in 1927. Perhaps he found the undergraduates easier to discipline. The third, Dr. Channing Lefebvre was conducting four glee clubs and serving as organist and choirmaster for Trinity Church when he became our conductor in 1927, a position he held for the next 34 years before moving to The Philippines.
In 1961, Dr. John Low Baldwin, a man often referred to as "the heart of the UGC", was chosen from 32 excellent applicants to lead our club, and lead he did, for forty glorious years! Since 2000, after John's passing, Francisco Núñez has carried on our tradition of superbly talented conductors, and few can imagine a finer leader, musician, gentleman and friend.
Looking Forward
At present, the UGC has 157 active singing members, 34 of whom have been with the club 25 years or longer. We also enjoy the support and encouragement of 165 associate members and 67 retired active members. Over the last century we have become considerably more visible and more diverse–we now have representatives from 68 colleges and universities, up from 11 when we started. Indeed, it might be fair to say that we have evolved from a group of elite members who were singers into a group of elite singers who are members.
Our past has served us well. We anticipate no radical departures ahead, but rather, a continuation of the traditions and trends that have brought us to the happy place we find ourselves today. In 1994, on our one-hundredth birthday, we created a new tradition, The Centennial Cup, which is awarded every two years in recognition of an individual who has made a significant contribution to the on going success of the UGC. These are the bright spirits, many not yet known to us, who will lead us through the next century and beyond.
As the UGC celebrates a sparkling new millennium of musical fellowship, we welcome you tonight with words from one of our favorite pieces.
With glad and open hearts we greet you
In our festival of song...