The next catch meeting: TBC

To be added to the invite list or to make further enquiries please contact Bethan directly.

"Merry songs to passe away the tyme in honest mirth and solace".

What is a 'catch'?
Simply put, a catch is a round consisting of 3, 4 or 5 parts. They can differ from rounds when the words are so contrived as to introduce some point of humour (often a pun)?however, this isn't always the case.

"Catches... are so consonant to all ordinaryie musicall capacity...
all whose loue of Musicke exceedes their skill,
also all whose skill in Musicke exceedes their loue of such sleight and light fancies, cannot either condemne...
Good Art in all,
For the more musicall, good mirth and melodie
For the more jouviall, sweet harmonie, mixed with much varietie
And both with great facilitie...
The onely intent is to giue generall content, composed by Art to make thee disposed to
mirth" [Thomas Ravencroft, publisher of the first Catch Collection in 1609]

What is a 'Catch Club'?
A Catch Club differs sharply from a Madrigal Society or Choral Group in several important ways. The comparative complexity of madrigals and choral music calls for performers who are fairly accomplished sight-readers and a conductor with the instincts of a sergeant-major. Nowadays, madrigals are considered as material for public performance, catches on the other hand, may well sound dull or repetitive to a listener, but are enormously entertaining and exhilarating in performance. So, a Catch Club has no audience to consider beyond itself, and its atmosphere thus becomes easy and relaxed. Poor sight-readers can soon pick up the shorter and simpler catches and no-one worries unduly about mistakes in the early stages. Monthly meetings, consisting ideally of 12 people, are conducted around a large table after a hearty meal and with plenty of ale (catch singing is unthinkable without a supply of liquor to hand - another point of difference from the Madrigal Society!). An average meeting can get through 30 catches.

Well-known composers of catches include: John Blow, Thomas Arne, William Byrd, Henry Purcell and Henry VIII.

Who can join?
Anyone with an ear for a tune and a mind for mirth! A catch meeting is a unique evening's entertainment harking back to days of yore - incorporating (nearly) all of life's pleasures in one sitting!

Short's a Catch united in its Parts,
And leav's a Lasting Pleasure in our Hearts
As it dispells our Sorrows, and destroys
Th'impediment to Friendship's lawful Joys,
While Bacchus with Apollo jointly reigns,
And Rapture fills our Soul, and Wine our Veins.