Brahms (1833 - 1897) - Academic Festival Overture
A famous
riposte to the young Mahler apart, Brahms was not well-known for his sense
of humour. However, his discovery that a mere thank-you note was (back
in 1879) considered insufficient gratitude for an honorary doctorate, conferred
in
absentia by Breslau University, provoked a little jest. The citation
described him as a “composer of serious music”, so Brahms notified Barnard
Scholz (the conductor at Breslau) of his proposed work's title. Scholz,
taking it at face value, thought it “devilish academic and boring”. It
is hard to imagine (yet imagine we must!) “stuffy old” Brahms chortling
with glee as he penned his now-famous medley of student songs.
However,
a “medley” it wasn't: like everything Brahms wrote it is built like a tank,
and, once set in motion, twice as impressive. The joke is not over. Having
a low opinion of Bruckner's symphonies (“symphonic boa-constrictors”!),
he took the opportunity to lay out his undergraduate booze-up exactly like
a Bruckner first movement. There are three subject groups, the first having
four themes with a predominantly marching character, the second a contrasting
lyrical flow, and the third (introduced on bassoons) bouncing along on
an off-beat rhythm. The development section is telescoped into the recapitulation
- we only become aware of the latter with the re-emergence of the second
subject. The unexpected, and unexpectedly unbuttoned, appearance of Gaudeamus
Igitur as a coda must have brought the house down at the premiere!
.
© Paul Serotsky
29, Carr Street,
Kamo,
Whangarei 0101,
Northland,
New Zealand
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