The Academic Festival Overture - Brahms's

Musical Booze-Up

Brahms Academic Festival Overture is a fun medley of rowdy student drinking

songs, written as a tongue-in-cheek "thanks" for an honorary degree.

It's one of Brahms's most popular pieces (alongside the Brahms lullaby), and
shows the composer's lighter side.

The story of the Overture begins in 1879...

The University of Breslau (now Wroclaw) decided to give Brahms a lofty

honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree.

The degree came with a pompous Latin sentence describing Brahms as "the
foremost composer of serious music in Germany today."

Brahms had already been offered an honorary degree years earlier from the
University of Cambridge.

But he didn't accept it, since he hated sea travel and was sickened by the news
that the English were going to throw lavish celebrations for him.

But there was no sea to cross this time. Brahms was rather flattered by the
University of Breslau's offer, and sent them a little "thank-you" postcard. He said
he would come to Breslau next year, and hoped that he could enjoy "doctoral
beer and skittles" with them. (Very amusing!)

Apparently this wasn't really enough though for them though. a friend told
Brahms that the University actually expected him to return the gesture by
writing a piece of music for them!

Perhaps some kind of grand, spectacular symphony, or a painfully complicated

choral work. You know, something that fitted the Latin quote on his degree...

So Brahms, perhaps a bit annoyed at this, went ahead and wrote an overture in
the summer of 1880 (I see it as his doctoral thesis!).

The result was probably the opposite of what the University faculty expected: a
straightforward tongue-in-cheek medley of student songs celebrating drinking
and general rowdiness, overflowing with merriment!

Brahms himself conducted the premiere in

Breslau (January 1881). All the top brass
from the university sat in the front row - and
they weren't very impressed!
It's actually difficult to know exactly how ironic Brahms was being. Was he lightly
mocking the academics, or attacking their pretentious Latin citation?

Or maybe he thought that he may as well have some fun writing the piece, since
he was obliged to compose it!

The Overture's Music

The Academic Festival Overture, despite being a fun-filled

booze-up, is actually extremely well-written. Brahms
uses a very solid structure for the piece, and his massive
orchestral forces bring the jolly student songs to dazzling
life.

It opens with a quiet but slightly dark melody, based on the

Radezsky march (which Brahms loved). After the opening,
we hear the first of the four student songs, Wir haben
gebauet ein stattliches Haus (We have built a stately
house) in the trumpets...

This song then blends with the opening melody in a

triumphant blast of sound. Soon afterwards we hear the
tune Landesvater (Father of his country) played
majestically by the strings...

Afterwards comes my favorite tune in the Overture, Was kommt dort von der
Hohe? (What comes from there on high?). It's a lively song which was sung while
new undergraduates were undergoing their initiation ritual!

Brahms repeats all these melodies, merging and colliding them in a powerful build
up to the glorious last student song in the Overture: Gaudeamus
Igitur (Therefore, let us be merry).

This ancient song is a celebration of German student-life in general, inviting all

students to enjoy their time now since they'll die eventually...

Brahms ends the Academic Festival Overture in a rousing version of this song,
using the powers of the full orchestra.

It's simpler and more fun to listen to than some other pieces like the Brahms
horn trio or even the Brahms requiem. These are still great pieces, but more
typically complicated.

Here's a great interpretation conducted by Leonard Bernstein, who manages to

get the tempo just right (not too slow, not too fast):

The Academic Festival Overture is one of Brahms's most popular pieces. I hope
you've enjoyed it!
This recommended recording is form conductor Marin Alsop with the London
Philharmonic Orchestra. This is an energetic and colorful performance which
captures the various shades of irony in the piece. I would prefer a slightly faster
tempo, but everything else is solid enough that it's not really a problem. Also
comes with a performance of the 1st Symphony.

Another recording I'm partial to is the delicious outing by Wolfgang Sawallisch...

again with the London Philharmonic!

Sawallisch brings out the bass end of the piece more and increase the tempo
slightly more than Alsop, creating a more powerful mood very suited to the faster
parts of the work. The different textures are excellently crisp in this recording as
well. Available on Seraphim.

ACADEMIC FESTIVAL OVERTURE

Johannes Brahms
Composed: 1880
Length: c. 10 minutes
Orchestration: piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two
bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three
trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals,
triangle), and strings
First Los Angeles Philharmonic performance: January 2, 1925, Walter
Henry Rothwell conducting
Johannes Brahms never went to college. When he was 20, however,
he had the opportunity to indulge in the perks of student life for
several weeks, without having to do a stitch of academic work. This
serendipitous state of affairs resulted after he got laid off while on
tour with the flamboyant 25-year-old Hungarian violinist, Eduard
Remnyi. Early in July of 1853, Remnyi and Brahms were guests at
the home of Franz Liszt during an extended stopover in Weimar.
Remnyi worshipped at the shrine of Liszt, but Brahms wanted
nothing to do with their hosts artistic goals and the New German
School. Incensed that his reticent accompanist wasnt according
the great master proper respect, Remnyi sent Brahms on his way.

A few weeks earlier, at the end of May, Remnyi had introduced

Brahms to violinist-composer Joseph Joachim during a concert stop
in Hanover. Foreseeing a personality clash between the ill-matched
duo, Joachim had invited Brahms if the opportunity arose to join
him at Gttingen, where he would be taking some summer courses
in philosophy and history at the local university. For two glorious
months that summer, Brahms hung out with Joachim and his circle,
enjoying reading, debates, pleasant walks, beer-drinking sessions
and song fests at the local beer-halls, and general student
camaraderie. By doing a recital with Joachim, he raised enough
money to finance a long-held dream to take a walking tour of the
Rhineland. Thus, the young composer packed his knapsack and bid
peripheral university life adieu.

Brahms next brush with academe occurred 23 years later, in 1876.

Cambridge University offered him an honorary Doctorate in Music,
which required his presence at the ceremony but Brahms had a
paralyzing distaste for sea travel. Then, he learned that Londoners
were hatching lavish plans to celebrate his sojourn in England.
Harboring an innate horror of fuss and lionization, and unwilling to
face the Channel crossing, the composer stayed home and
relinquished the honor.

It was in 1879 that the University of Breslau conferred upon him the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Brahms was flattered and sent a
postcard of thanks to the faculty. However, a subsequent letter from
his friend Bernhard Scholz, Director of Music in Breslau, made it
clear that the university expected him to express his gratitude in
musical form. While vacationing at Bad Ischl during the summer of
1880, Brahms penned his musical thank you the Academic
Festival Overture.
With a masterful balance of serious and light-hearted elements, the
emphasis is on the festival rather than the academic in an
overture that brims with an irrepressible sense of fun. The work also
sports the most extravagant orchestral forces the composer ever
employed. Brahms himself described the piece as a very boisterous
potpourri of student songs. Indeed, excerpts from four student
beer-hall tunes play a significant role in the orchestral texture in
what is, perhaps, a fond backward look to the carefree summer days
of 1853.

A hushed, but urgent statement launches the Overture, followed by

a dramatic succession of contrasting ideas and dynamics. The
principal idea here is an adaptation of the Rakczy March, a favorite
tune with the composer since his youth. Following a soft drumroll,
three trumpets then present the first of the traditional students
songs: Wir hatten gebauet ein stattliches Haus (We have built a
stately house). Its roots lie in a Thuringian folk song, which had been
transformed into a defiant protest song in the East German town of
Jena when the students association there was disbanded in 1819.
After Brahms develops and mixes this song with the earlier Rakczy
adaptation, the melody of Der Landesvater (The father of our
country) appears in a sweeping, lyrical rendition introduced by
violins and violas.

The tempo shifts to animato for the freshmans song known as The
Fox-Ride (Was komm dort von der Hh What comes from afar).
Bassoons, accompanied by off-the-beat violas and cellos, add a
touch of humor that must have raised a faculty eyebrow or two at
the premiere. Not forgetting to stir in his original material, Brahms
then plays the three student songs off one another in a light-handed
development. For the grand finale, a rambunctious version of the
imposing Gaudeamus igitur (Therefore, let us be merry) makes a
joyful noise and provides a rousing conclusion with its blazing brass
and full orchestral forces.

The Overture has been one of Brahms most often played works
ever since the composer himself conducted the premiere in Breslau
on January 4, 1881.

Composer Kathy Henkel has written program notes for many

musical organizations in Southern California. LA Phil English horn
player Carolyn Hove recently premiered Henkels Summers Echo at
a masterclass recital in Indiana.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Born May 7, 1833 in Hamburg Germany.
Died April 3, 1897 in Vienna Austria.

Akademische Festouvertre
Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80.
Composed Summer 1880.
First Performance: January 4, 1881 at Breslau with Brahms conducting.
Instrumentation: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, and
strings.
Duration: ~10 min.
Bernhard E. Scholz (1835-1916), the director of the Orchestra Society in Breslau
between 1871 and 1883, nominated Brahms to receive an honorary doctorate
from the University of Breslau now the University of Wrocaw, Poland. The chair
of Philosophy at the university granted the doctorate to Brahms on March 11,
1879, describing Brahms as Artis musicae severioris Germania nun
princeps (The most famous living German composer of serious
music). Brahms sent a thank you letter to the University, but week later, Scholz
wrote to Brahms suggesting that he write a doctoral symphony for the university
or at the least, a Festal Ode. It wasnt until August of 1880
that Brahms delivered his Academic Festival Overture. He was not happy
with the title. He suggested an alternative title Viadrina to describe the river
Oder in Breslau, but decided after consulting with his violin virtuoso friend
Joachim that it did not sound right. In the end he kept the original title.
Brahms did indeed feel honored by the degree even more so when he learned
that Richard Wagner was envious! Brahms humble circumstances in his youth
prevented him from entering academia. He was previously offered this honor by
Cambridge, but declined. For the rest of his life, he used the honorific Dr. Brahms.
But being described by the phrase composer of serious music was motivation
enough for him to be mischievously contrary.
In a letter to his biographer Max Kalbeck, Brahms described his overture as a
very boisterous potpourri of student songs la Supp. Brahms was referring to
light music composer Franz von Supp, who had written an overture to his
operetta Flotte Bursche (1863) that simply stitched together student songs,
including the well-known Gaudeamus Igitur. Brahms overture also
uses Gaudeamus Igitur, but his overture works four student songs into an artful
sonata-like masterpiece.
Brahms conducted the premiere at the university in January 1881, along with the
premiere of his Tragic Overture, which was written concurrently. One can
imagine the reaction of the faculty who were expecting a serious symphony, but
were instead presented with student drinking songs! Imagine an American
composer today accepting an honorary doctorate from the Curtis Institute
using Louie Louie by the Kingsmen, 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall,
and Margaritaville as part of an overture!
The overture begins with an original introduction in C minor. The mood is hushed
and mysterious. A soft timpani roll sets the stage for the stately almost hymn-like
C major introduction by the trumpets of the first student song, Wir hatten
gebauet ein stattliches Haus. This song, which dates to 1819, is thought to
have originated as a Thuringian folk song. The violins present the flowing second
subject (m 129) in E major based on Hrt, ich sing das Lied der
Lieder from Landesvaterlied (The Father of Our Country). This is quickly
followed (m. 157) by Was kommt dort von der Hh from das Fuchsenlied, at
first humorously scored for bassoons and oboes, then answered by the full
orchestra. The Maestoso Finale (m. 379) is a grand setting of Gaudeamus
igitur by the winds while the string scurry along in 32nd notes. This is the largest
orchestra Brahms employed, including what he described as his Janissary
instruments cymbals, triangle, and bass drum to make this truly a Festal
Ode.
ACADEMIC FESTIVAL OVERTURE, OP. 80
Recording: Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Claudio Abbado [DG 435 683-2]
Published 1881.

Brahms was never a university student, but as a young man in the summer of 1853, he enjoyed the
pleasures of student life in Gttingen among the circle of his friend Joseph Joachim, who was enrolled
there. In 1876, around the time of the first two symphonies, when he was at his creative height, the
University of Cambridge in England offered him an honorary doctorate, a great honor for somebody
who never attended college. But he would be required to attend a ceremony in a country he never
visited, and he was intensely wary of sea travel, so he declined the offer. In 1879, a German university
in Breslau (now Wrocaw, Poland) decided to confer on him an honorary doctorate of philosophy. He
famously expressed his thanks with a postcard, then discovered that he was expected to compose
something for the occasion, perhaps a fine symphony. Brahms responded with his most humorous,
joyous, and extroverted work. He described it as a very boisterous potpourri of student songs la
Supp, referring to the popular composer of operettas and concert overtures Franz von Supp. Supp
had written an overture, Flotte Bursche, that was essentially a string of student melodies, including
the beloved hymn Gaudeamus igitur. Brahmss piece is, of course, much more artful. He weaves his
four student ditties (which he learned in Gttingen) into a very unconventional, but ingeniously
designed sonata-like structure, adding his own more solemn minor-key introductory material (which he
also used for the development) and introducing Gaudeamus at the very end in the coda, the most
exuberant passage in all his works. The overture boasts the largest orchestra he ever employed,
including piccolo, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones with tuba and, most
tellingly, three non-pitched percussion instruments, two of which (bass drum and cymbals) he only
used here. The triangle would appear in the Fourth Symphony. The name of the piece is very apt. Its
structure is certainly academic and its mood festive, but when Brahms conducted the premiere at a
special 1881 convocation at the University in Breslau, the professors, who were expecting a serious
piece, must have been taken aback by the appearance of a tune used in a freshman hazing rite! Brahms
did take pride in his honorary degree and happily used the title Dr. Brahms for the rest of his life.
The overture is beloved by orchestras, one of the most popular of all pieces used to open a concert.

IMSLP WORK PAGE

ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (First Edition from Brahms-Institut Lbeck)
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (First Edition [monochrome] from Harvard University)
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (from Breitkopf & Hrtel Smtliche Werke)

Allegro--Listesso tempo, un poco maestoso--Maestoso (Modified Sonata-Allegro form). C

MINOR/MAJOR, Cut time [2/2]--4/4--2/4--4/4--2/4--3/4.
INTRODUCTION--Allegro, C minor/major, Cut time [2/2].
0:00 [m. 1]--The main C-minor theme of the introduction enters secretively in the strings, sotto voce.
The first violins immediately pass it to the violas and then take it back. The melody is march-like and
played with very detached notes. Its characteristic contour is two repeated notes followed by one note
above and another below. The melody is supported by prominent bassoons and horns. The cymbal and
bass drum also make their presence known in the only work where Brahms used them, playing soft
punctuating beats. In the second half of the first statement, the bassoons and horns gradually take over,
leading to a cadence and reducing the strings, which gradually lose the violins, to a rhythmic
accompaniment. The theme has echoes of the familiar Hungarian Rkczy March, which Brahms
admired.
0:23 [m. 14]--The cadence overlaps with a new phrase that appears to begin the theme again, with the
violas prominently playing after the beat. But suddenly, over a mysterious timpani roll and tuba note,
the clarinets enter and play ghostly downward-arching arpeggios in six-note groups (with triplet
rhythm). The violas join on the upward swing. The strings attempt to reassert the theme by marching
down., but the clarinets interrupt again with the mysterious arpeggios a fourth higher. This time, the
violas play with them on the way down, the first violins on the way up. Again, the strings recover and
march downward.
0:40 [m. 25]--The preceding jump up a fourth has changed the key to F minor. On the last beat of the
bar, the trumpets sneak in on an octave and hold it. Then, changing to F major, the strings play a
solemn chorale-like phrase, with the violas above the violins. The trumpets drop out halfway through.
After five bars, pivoting on the note F, a single horn takes over from the strings and is then joined by
bassoons. The horn and bassoons use that note to swing to D-flat major, where they play their version
of the chorale, expanding it one measure by lengthening a note in the middle. The strings use D-flat to
pivot back to F, now F minor, and the bassoons prominently take over with a descending line in thirds
based on the chorale. With the strings, they move to the anticipatory dominant in C after five bars,
holding that harmony.
1:06 [m. 41]--The theme begins again in C, with a slight nod to the preceding F minor in the first
notes. This time, a crescendo immediately begins and the theme immediately turns to C major, then G
major, its character suddenly altered. To this point, it has been played by its original instruments,
strings, horns, and bassoons. After the arrival on G and the sudden intensification, the remaining wind
instruments join for a new closing phrase. This is in a clipped short-long rhythm and will be heard
later on. The loud phrase begins in G major, but in its second half turns suddenly to its relative E minor
in a huge arrival.
1:20 [m. 50]--After the forceful E-minor cadence, horns, bassoons, clarinets, plucked strings, and the
newly entering trombones suddenly quiet things down and artfully shift from E minor to E-flat major
(relative to the home key of C minor) with a skeletal version of the short-long rhythm from the
preceding phrase. Then comes a strange and very hushed transition. Rising stepwise figures alternate
with falling ones, but some instruments, including all woodwinds, enter on a full upbeat while some
strings enter on a half-upbeat with their motion after the downbeat, creating an unsettled feeling. Low
tuba and contrabassoon contrast with high flutes. Finally, still with the off-kilter entrances, an arching
phrase leads to a half-close in C minor with hollow plucked strings. A fateful, quiet, and exposed
timpani roll raises a new curtain.
1:43 [m. 64]--In C major, the three trumpets very solemnly intone the first of the student songs, Wir
hatten gebauet ein staatliches Haus (We had built a stately house), a tune later adapted as a
patriotic German song. The low strings join the timpani roll on G. The trumpets are supported by
horns and trombones. From the second phrase on, the flutes, oboes, and horns take the melodic lead on
the song, with the other brass continuing to provide a background. Between the second and third
phrases, the low strings and bassoons add a colorful and chromatic arching bridge. The volume then
begins to build. The third phrase is stretched out and adds sweeping scales in the strings. These build
to a great intensity, adding the piccolo at the end. The cadence of this last phrase coincides with the
grand arrival of the exposition.
EXPOSITION--Listesso tempo, un poco maestoso, C major, 4/4 time.
2:19 [m. 88]--Theme 1. The full orchestra, except for the extra percussion, joyfully presents it. The
theme combines elements from the Rkczy introduction theme and Wir hatten gebauet. It surges
forward with plunging arpeggios, two-note descents, and rapid wind scales. The second phrase makes
a turn to E minor, a key used in the introduction, then immediately moves back to C major. There, a
syncopated ascent leads to exuberant fragments of Wir hatten gebauet, which move to dominant
harmony.
2:47 [m. 106]--The music suddenly quiets and the instruments are reduced to low strings, bassoons,
horns, and timpani. They present the second phrase of the very first introductory statement. The low
strings provide a rhythmic accompaniment to the thematic fragments in the bassoons and horns, which
lead to the same cadence as they did before 0:23[m. 14]. The difference is that the phrase and the
cadence are here presented in C major instead of C minor.
2:57 [m. 113]--Transition. Overlapping with the cadence, the first violins play a three-note upbeat to a
new version of the theme that is smooth and gentle. The strings first play it in harmony, and then the
winds join on the next phrase. Then the melody is spun out over rapidly changing harmony and
increasing volume, with some string and wind imitation. The continuation forcefully arrives on B
major, a key that immediately functions as the preparatory dominant for E. E minor has played a
large role, but now E major will be the key of the second theme, which is also the second student song
quotation. An anticipation of the tune, with leaping violin octaves, is played as the bass descends from
B to E.
3:25 [m. 129]--Theme 2. The second student song, which starts the second theme group, is the ritual
tune Der Landesvater (The Father of Our Country), also known as Alles schweige, alle
neige (All is silent, all bow down). The second violins carry most of the flowing tune, which is
only a fragment of the original song. The first violins largely soar above it, the violas harmonize, and
the cellos play wide plucked arpeggios. Wind participation is light in the first statement (horns and
bassoons, then clarinets) until the trombones enter in the transition to the second statement, again
introduced by leaping octaves (E major).
3:44 [m. 139]--The first statement ended on the dominant, B major. The transition to the second
statement has used that note to make a pivot to G major, the dominant of the home key and the
expected area for the second theme group. The principal flute and oboe begin the tune in that key, then
hold a high note as clarinets and bassoons take the harmonized continuation. The cellos continue the
faster plucked arpeggios, which are then briefly taken by the violas. The melody now diverges from its
pattern with a chromatic descent in the winds.
3:51 [m. 143]--A rising line from the theme in dotted (long-short) rhythm is passed from clarinet to
oboe to flute, all over light string accompaniment. The flute statement is fragmented and alternates
with horn interjections. Then the violins take over. The violas and cellos return to their plucked
arpeggios as the violins, beginning with the dotted rhythm, lead to a satisfying cadence. This cadence
phrase is then varied by the winds, who decorate it with harmonized thirds and sixths in a broad triplet
rhythm. Clarinets begin, oboes follow, then flutes and bassoons join, leading to a confirmation of the
cadence and into the next song.
4:16 [m. 157]--Closing theme/section. With a change of meter to 2/4 and the marking animato,
Brahms introduces the third student song, Was kommt dort von der Hh? (What comes from the
heights?), also known as the Fuchslied or Fuchsenritt (Fox Song or Fox Ride), which was
used in freshman hazing rituals. The song features repeated notes and a rising motion. Brahms gives it
to the two bassoons in one of his most effective uses of that instrument. They play it lightly and
quietly, with obvious humor and with effective use of thirds. Violas and cellos accompany with short
notes after the beat (G major).
4:24 [m. 166]--Overlapping with the end of the ten-bar bassoon phrase, the principal oboe takes the
melody above the continuing bassoons. The second violins and violas pluck their light
accompaniment, and the cello plays a descending counterpoint to the melody. The accompaniment has
chromatic and minor-key inflections.
4:31 [m. 175]--With a sudden fortissimo entrance, the full woodwinds, horns and trumpets enter,
cutting off the oboe cadence and becoming boisterous. The top lines introduce a descent in the rhythm
of the song, but the original melody can be heard in the low strings and bassoons. The harmony makes
an abrupt (but preparatory) motion to B major, immediately moving back to G as the first violins work
back up with a triplet rhythm. Then the violins interrupt the bass presentation of the melody, repeating
its fifth and sixth bars. They spin these measures out, moving steadily downward. As they do, the
harmony also moves steadily down. The horns provide an almost wild counterpoint in triplet rhythm.
At the end, the key is jerked back to B major.
4:42 [m. 189]--The upper strings suddenly quiet things down with new yearning figures in B major.
The cellos, however, soon joined by the violas, maintain the Fuchslied rhythm. The principal oboe
then takes over with a completely new melody, also in B major and also with a yearning character,
supported by violin harmonies. The violas and cellos play the actual Fuchslied melody underneath
it. The new melody and the underlying Fuchslied stall and work down to a B-major cadence.
4:53 [m. 202]--At the cadence, the strings become more hushed. They work down and the harmony
turns to minor over a pedal point in the cellos. This pedal point is also present in the principal
bassoon, who plays rising octaves similar to those that introduced the Landesvater melody. After
eight measures, the bassoon, then the cellos, move their pedal from the dominant note in B minor
to that in G major, restoring the main key of the Fuchslied section.
5:02 [m. 211]--The rising figures lead to a restatement of the music from 4:42 [m. 189] in G major.
The violins present the initial yearning figures, but this time without the Fuchslied melody. The
cellos continue to restate their rising cadence gesture that led into this passage. The flute and clarinet
also add a new descending response. The violins now also take the yearning melody that had been
played by the oboe. Other instruments continue to add rising gestures. The violas and cellos take over
the melody, spinning it out and adding chromatic notes. Then the entire string section joins in unison,
winding downward under a sustained dominant in the winds. The volume builds rapidly, the
timpanist enters, and and the unison motion is halted with a sharp chord in the strings.
5:20 [m. 231]--Transition to development. The Fuchslied melody is blasted out by the winds and
horns, with sharp string chords, supported by trumpets and timpani, after the beats. The characteristic
harmonies in thirds are used. After four bars, the melody veers sharply away from G major, moving to
the overtures first key, C minor, and plunging headlong into the abbreviated development section,
which is almost entirely built on material from the introduction.
DEVELOPMENT--C minor, 4/4/ time.
5:28 [m. 241]--The change of meter is abrupt. The arrival on C minor uses the material from 0:23 [m.
14]. Even the harmony from that portion is used, but the presentation is completely changed. The
arching arpeggios, still with the dissonant harmonies, are passed between instruments inside both the
wind and string sections. They are now in irregular five-note and seven-note groups instead of six-note
groups. The brass, including trombones and tuba, sustains a chord. But everything is now loud and
agitated, and a timpani roll is included. The strings march downward, as they had in the introduction,
and the sequence is repeated a fourth higher, as it was there.
5:41 [m. 249]--The solemn melody and thematic material that followed here before are omitted.
Instead, rising and falling upbeat figures are passed from strings to winds The trumpets are again
prominent, and these upbeat figures build to a restatement of the closing phrase in clipped short-
long rhythm heard directly before 1:20 [m. 50]. It is played by the full wind and string groups,
beginning in A-flat major (which arrives artfully in a pivot from C) and ending in the analogous
relative minor key, F minor.
5:57 [m. 259]--This passage is similar to 1:20 [m. 50], even using some of the same notes, but its
direction is altered and the key change is extended. Stopped horns are used on the dissonant note G-
flat, creating an eerie sound. The low strings are not plucked, but bowed mezza voce. The bassoon
also participates, as before, but trombones and clarinets do not. The motion first suggests an arrival on
D-flat. Then the sequence is repeated a whole step lower, appearing to move to B, but this is suddenly
diverted to G, which immediately functions as the dominant of C. Another quiet blast from stopped
horns leads to a soft timpani roll under a dissonant clarinet entry. The strange transition with
asynchronous entrances is omitted.
6:14 [m. 269]--Moving backward in the introduction, the next passage in C minor is derived from the
second half of the very first statement, which was again used in the exposition in major at 2:47 [m.
106]. It begins as those two passages had, but with the upper strings taking the former horn
interjections. The bassoons are also more active, doubling the low strings. After four measures, the
smooth motion to the cadence from both previous statements is replaced by a sudden intensification of
the material, which builds and rises with increased syncopation, incorporating more instruments until
the sudden arrival of the reprise.
RECAPITULATION
6:27 [m. 277]--This arrival point resembles the beginning of the exposition, but it is in C minor instead
of major, and it retains other points of contact with the introductory Rkczy material. The music is
driven by surging strings and the full brass section. The opening thematic statement is followed by
more surging music that reaches up, then descends over a leaping bass. This leads to another statement
a half-step higher, in C-sharp minor. The reaching descents are now extended, rapidly changing
harmony with more half-step motion and introducing some cross-meter with three-note descents. The
last such descent plunges down in the tremolo violins and woodwinds, its goal another even more
grandiose arrival point in C.
6:47 [m. 290]--C minor gloriously gives way to C major, and Brahms finally realizes the potential of
his expanded percussion section. The cymbals and bass drum make their presence felt, as does, for the
first time, the ringing triangle. There is an underlying tension, however, because of a bass pedal
point on the preparatory dominant note (G) that tenaciously holds itself for ten measures. Here,
there are many points of contact with the exposition material from 2:19 [m. 88], the persistent pedal
point here being the major difference, even maintaining itself when the melody makes the expected
turn to E major. The sweeping string scales are another prominent addition.
7:03 [m. 300]--The pedal point finally gives way at the plunging arpeggio and syncopated ascent that
lead into to the material from Wir hatten gebauet. This is given even more grandeur by the ringing
triangle, and it is expanded. After four measures, including a soaring violin scale, it restarts an octave
higher and adds a jubilant skip up in place of the third repeated note. The melody then proceeds to its
expected arrival on dominant harmony. In a major abridgment, all of the material from 2:47 [m. 106]
and the transitional music from 2:57 [m. 113] is omitted. Brahms moves directly to Der Landesvater,
and its anticipatory octaves occur directly after the conclusion of the Wir hatten gebauet music.
7:26 [m. 314]--Theme 2. The first statement of the Landesvater melody proceeds essentially as it
had before at 3:25 [m. 129], except it is now in the home key of C. The orchestration is also the same
as it was in the first presentation. The omission of all the transition material has eliminated the key
change.
7:45 [m. 324]--Second statement of the Landesvatermelody, analogous to 3:44 [m. 139]. The
harmonic motion for this statement is preserved, and it now begins in E-flat major (a minor third
higher, as G was to E in the exposition). This time, the clarinet and bassoon participate in the melodic
presentation with the flute. The passage is doubled in length. The first four bars of the original theme
are given before it restarts and takes the path heard at 3:44 [m. 139] with the held flute/oboe note,
harmonized continuation, and chromatic descent. This is also altered, moving further downward and
back home to C (in the exposition it stayed in the new key). By extending the statement, Brahms gives
E-flat major more time.
7:59 [m. 332]--With the motion back to C major, this passage, analogous to 3:51 [m. 143] follows the
exposition statement more closely. The dotted-rhythm line and cadence arrive as expected. The wind
scoring is richer, with multiple instruments playing the line at once, first horn and oboe, then flute,
clarinet, and bassoon. The fragmented entries are passed from oboe and horn to clarinet and bassoon to
flute and horn and finally to oboe alone. When the violins take over at the cadence phrase, they are
imitated by flute and bassoon. The ensuing harmonized wind statement of the cadence phrase in
triplets is as before.
8:24 [m. 346]--Closing section. The change to 2/4 meter happens, but the closing material is greatly
abridged. All of the initial statements of Fuchslied and the first statement of the new melody, which
had been presented in B major, are omitted, and the cadence leads into the passage heard at 5:02 [m.
211], now in C major instead of G. The scoring is similar, with the flute taking its former role, but the
clarinet joining the strings on the rising figures. The fist statement of the yearning melody is played by
violas instead of violins, and the second, developmental statement is taken by the oboe, with strings
and winds reversing roles from before. The downward-winding transition with the buildup is
essentially as it was.
8:44 [m. 367]--Finally, the Fuchslied arrives, analogous to 5:20 [m. 231]. Again, it is transitional,
but here it becomes truly climactic. The scoring is similar to the former passage, but now the trumpets
join in the main melodic presentation. Instead of making a sharp turn into minor, the song blazes forth
gloriously in its original form, coming to a full and complete cadence for the first and only time. This
cadence coincides with the arrival of the coda and the crowning final student song, Gaudeamus
igitur.
CODA--Maestoso, C major, 3/4 time
8:55 [m. 379]--The coda is entirely based on the final student song, the hymn Gaudeamus igitur.
Often used as a graduation hymn, its origins are as a lighthearted drinking song. The original Latin
(not German) words are an exhortation to seize the day and enjoy life, for life is short. The translation
is So let us rejoice. The song is in triple meter, and Brahms accordingly changes his meter to 3/4 for
the rest of the overture. The three percussion instruments enter in all their glory. The first phrase of the
tune bursts forth from winds and brass, including trumpets. The violins, meanwhile, have rushing
scales in rapid 32nd notes. After sweeping up, back down, and up again, they have a soaring syncopated
line to transition into the next phrase. The lower strings, trombones, and tuba provide bass support.
9:06 [m. 383]--In the second phrase, the percussion drops out and the violins join the upper winds in
the presentation of the melody, which is very similar to the first phrase. The bass instruments provide
an active marching line.
9:16 [m. 387]--The principal trumpet, one horn, timpani, and violins provide a preparatory upbeat to
the third phrase, which is again led by the winds and brass and again includes percussion. The violins
return to their sweeping scales. Their motion twice arches down and back up. This phrase is quite
different from the first two, and careful attention reveals it as having an affinity to, and possibly
providing a source for, the introductory melody and the first theme, the tunes reminiscent of the
Rkczy March.
9:27 [m. 391]--The last phrase of the song is exceedingly grand, joyous, and triumphant. The trumpets
really take the leading role here, and the piccolo soars above everything. The violin scales are mostly
downward lines and upward leaps. The final measure is stretched out so that the cadence arrives and
coincides with the beginning of the final flourishes.
9:38 [m. 395]--The last measures are a series of cadences, with falling dotted rhythms passed from the
bass wind instruments to the higher ones, each alternation taking two beats and thus obscuring the bar
lines in 3/4. The bass instruments move from the keynote to the dominant note and the higher
instruments move back. The rushing scales persist in the strings (except for basses), with violas and
cellos rushing up as the low winds leap down, and violins rushing down as the higher winds move back
home. After two exchanges, all winds change to a held octave or octave leap, not leaving the keynote,
and the piccolo joins the violins on the rushing downward scale. With this last arrival, the instruments
play two more exchanges.
9:45 [m. 398]--The high instruments have a final arrival on an upbeat, and then the triple meter is
restored as all instruments join together on the descents for one measure, reaching a held chord as the
percussion instruments, including timpani, thunder and ring. This is sharply cut off. All instruments
briefly pause before two punctuating upbeats and the final chord, held out over a timpani roll and
ringing triangle.
10:17--END OF OVERTURE [401 mm.]