For those who find Brahms' music unapproachable, serious or too heavy,
the Academic Festival Overture with its wit, rich harmonies, melodic invention
and compactness should come as a pleasant surprise. At the time of its
writing, Brahms had established an importance in musical life fully recognised
by the awards, knighthoods, gold medals and honorary presidencies showered
upon his sturdy shoulders. Any idea that he would write an intellectual
piece as a thank you for the Doctorate bestowed on him by the University
of Breslau in 1879 was dispelled by a jovial overture which he himself
called "a boisterous potpourri of student songs". This tribute to university
life shows that Brahms' sympathy lay with the repressed students rather
than academia. A contemporary report of the first performance, conducted
by the composer, reveals that some members of the faculty were dismayed
by the music's apparent disregard for the standing of the university.
A tightly constructed introduction leads to a quiet brass and woodwind
rendering of "We have built a stately house" soon followed by the more
lyrical "The father of our country". A change of mood presents the freshman
song "What's coming from on high" and the piece ends in high old style
with a broad statement of one of the most popular student songs "Gaudeamus
igitur" ("Let us rejoice scholar"), the unofficial anthem of German student
protests against police harassment.
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