Notes on the Program "Academic Festival" Overture, Op. 80 -Johannes Brahms (born May 7, 1833 in Hamburg, Germany; died April 3, 1897 in Vienna) The "Academic Festival" Overture was composed as a tribute to university life, specifically, to the University of Breslau. In 1879, the university conferred an hon- orary degree of Doctor of Philosophy on Brahms, citing the composer as princeps musicae severioris. Not being impressed by such academic formality, Brahms re- sponded with this overture fraught with good humor. The work, regarded by Brahms' contemporaries as a "very jolly potpourri of students' song a la Suppe," a view that the composer did nothing to rebut, contains a number of themes from the Studentenkneipen (students' drinking parties) with which Brahms once familiar- ized himself during a visit to Gottengen. The overture received its first perfor- mance on January 4, 1881, with Brahms conducting, before an assemblage of the students and faculty of the university, as well as citizens of Breslau. The music opens with a solemn original theme in C minor, which serves as an introduction to the stately folksong, "Wir hatten gebauet ein stattliches Haus" (We Had Built a Stately House), that is followed by a lively Student ditty entitled "Der Landesvater" (The Father of His Coun try). The bassoons and oboes next present "Was kommt dort von der Höhe" (What Comes There From on High), and the finale unfolds with the entire Orchestra proclaiming the ever-fa- mous refrain associated with College life, "Gaudeamus Igitur." —Program note courtesy Columbia Artists Management, Inc. iBravo ! to the Theatk-e New Brunswick Your outstanding performances have greatly contributed to the renewed sense of pride in our Community. Encore! Encore! Your community newspaper
