STRAVINSKY PULCINELLA
About the Concert
ACADEMIC FESTIVAL OVERTURE
Johannes Brahms
Born in Hamburg, Germany, May 7, 1833;
died in Vienna, Austria, April 3, 1897
A child of the Hamburg slums, Johannes
Brahms was never comfortable with pomp
and circumstance, medals and honorary
degrees. So, when Cambridge University
proffered an honorary doctorate, he
refused to show up (deathly afraid of
water, he also didn’t want to cross the
English Channel). And when in March
1879 the University of Breslau announced
it was making him an honorary doctor of
philosophy, he initially fired off a postcard
to his friend in Breslau, the conductor
Bernard Scholz, asking him to convey
to the university faculty his thanks and
acceptance, hoping that would take care
of the matter. Scholz promptly informed
him that this was not sufficient: the
University expected him to appear in
person to receive the degree and to create
a musical work for them in appreciation.
“Wouldn’t you like to write a doctoral
symphony for Breslau?” Scholz wrote. “At
the very least, we expect a solemn ode.”
Brahms agreed and set to work in the
summer of 1880. But he dipped into his
streak of irreverent humor for inspiration.
In its doctoral citation, Breslau had
proclaimed him “artis musicae serverioris
in Germania nunc princeps”—“present
leader in Germany of music of the
more serious sort.” With his boisterous
Academic Festival Overture based on
undergraduate drinking songs, Brahms
set out to stand this pompous phrase on
its head.
Raised in poverty, Brahms had never
enjoyed the luxury of a university or
even a conservatory education. His
only contact with student life had come
in the summer of 1853 when he spent
two months staying with his friend
the great violinist Joseph Joachim (for
whom he wrote his Violin Concerto)
while Joachim studied at the University
of Göttingen. It was an experience he
remembered fondly. Only 20, he mingled
with his wealthier peers drinking in the
taverns without having to undertake any
heavier duties in the library or classroom.
The songs he learned filled the Academic
Festival Overture.
Even the Overture’s opening is a
spoof of “artis musicae severioris”: music
in C minor full of earnestly chugging
strings, spooky woodwind arpeggios
and portentously dramatic chords. But
this impression slips away as as the key
moves to C major and the brass peal
forth the student hymn “We Had Built
a Stately House” in marching-band
style. Then the strings soar upward
with the nostalgic “High Festival Song.”
Brahms fully reveals his mischief by
making his third theme the freshman
hazing song “Fuchsenritt” (“Fox Ride”),
tootled comically by bassoons. For
the Overture’s conclusion, he picks a
song known in universities worldwide,
“Gaudeamus igitur,” blown up with
clashing cymbals, brass and percussion.
Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo,
two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons,
contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets,
three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion
and strings.
EVE’S LAMENT—O FLOWERS, THAT NEVER
WILL GROW
Lera Auerbach
Born in Chelyabinsk, Russia, October 21, 1973
Russian-born Lera Auerbach possesses an
artistic versatility that perhaps could only
be matched by that of Leonard Bernstein.
She is a piano virtuoso, appearing in that
capacity with major orchestras on three
continents. She is a published poet, who
was named “Poet of the Year” in 1996
by the International Pushkin Society
in New York; her poems are included
in Russian textbooks on contemporary
poetry. She is a sculptress and painter,
whose works have been exhibited along
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OV E R T U R E / BSOmusic.org