Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80
Johannes Brahms (1833-97)
Allegro; Maestoso; Animato; Maestoso
In 1877, Johannes Brahms declined the offer of an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Cambridge but accepted one from the University of Breslau in 1879. He composed the Academic Festival Overture as a gesture of appreciation. Cambridge’s loss and Breslau’s gain can be attributed to the agonies of sea-sickness, an ailment Brahms loathed so deeply, he refused to cross the English Channel to collect the Cambridge honour. The Overture is known for its high spirits and humour just as its companion piece, the Tragic Overture (Op. 81) is known for its sombre character. Brahms conducted the premières of both at Breslau early in 1881, about six months after receiving his doctorate.
He referred to the work as ‘a potpourri of student songs à la Suppé’ – probably a reference to the overture to Suppé’s operetta Flotte Bursche, a simple medley that includes the student song Gaudeamus igitur (‘So let us rejoice’). Brahms’s overture, which concludes with that tune, is more complex, witty and ingenious. He incorporates several so-called student songs, themes of his own and subtle cross-references between them.
Commentators have read much into the background and construction of this fine overture. All agree that the multitude of melodies add up to far more than a potpourri. The work has a firm underlying structure and a key scheme that fully sustains its length and variety. The complete list of student songs would not provide much enlightenment in modern times, but listeners should certainly prepare themselves for Was kommt dort von der Höh (‘What comes from afar’), first played on bassoons with noticeable gusto. Sir Donald Tovey called this ‘The Great Bassoon joke’. Like other skilled jokesters, Brahms avoids the trap of telling a joke twice. He omits this tune from his recapitulation of the other musical material. The coda is built on Gaudeamus igitur, and magnificently so. The violins play decorative scales at breakneck speed as the wind spell out the noble tune. Listeners may be reminded of a similar passage towards the end of Richard Wagner’s Prelude to Die Meistersingers. Some authors have suggested that Brahms’s coda is a parody of Wagner’s, but this conjecture was never confirmed by Brahms.
Johannes Brahms (1833-97)
Allegro; Maestoso; Animato; Maestoso
In 1877, Johannes Brahms declined the offer of an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Cambridge but accepted one from the University of Breslau in 1879. He composed the Academic Festival Overture as a gesture of appreciation. Cambridge’s loss and Breslau’s gain can be attributed to the agonies of sea-sickness, an ailment Brahms loathed so deeply, he refused to cross the English Channel to collect the Cambridge honour. The Overture is known for its high spirits and humour just as its companion piece, the Tragic Overture (Op. 81) is known for its sombre character. Brahms conducted the premières of both at Breslau early in 1881, about six months after receiving his doctorate.
He referred to the work as ‘a potpourri of student songs à la Suppé’ – probably a reference to the overture to Suppé’s operetta Flotte Bursche, a simple medley that includes the student song Gaudeamus igitur (‘So let us rejoice’). Brahms’s overture, which concludes with that tune, is more complex, witty and ingenious. He incorporates several so-called student songs, themes of his own and subtle cross-references between them.
Commentators have read much into the background and construction of this fine overture. All agree that the multitude of melodies add up to far more than a potpourri. The work has a firm underlying structure and a key scheme that fully sustains its length and variety. The complete list of student songs would not provide much enlightenment in modern times, but listeners should certainly prepare themselves for Was kommt dort von der Höh (‘What comes from afar’), first played on bassoons with noticeable gusto. Sir Donald Tovey called this ‘The Great Bassoon joke’. Like other skilled jokesters, Brahms avoids the trap of telling a joke twice. He omits this tune from his recapitulation of the other musical material. The coda is built on Gaudeamus igitur, and magnificently so. The violins play decorative scales at breakneck speed as the wind spell out the noble tune. Listeners may be reminded of a similar passage towards the end of Richard Wagner’s Prelude to Die Meistersingers. Some authors have suggested that Brahms’s coda is a parody of Wagner’s, but this conjecture was never confirmed by Brahms.