Academic Festival Overture Op. 80

Brahms composed this work during the summer of 1880 as a tribute to the University of Breslau for conferring on him an honorary doctorate of philosophy. Known for his love of irony, Brahms based this overture on a number of familiar melodies resulting in what he called a ?very boisterous potpourri of student songs.? Included is Was kommt dort von der H?h (?What Comes There from on Yonder??), sung by upperclassmen to chide first year students, a German patriotic song Wir hatten gebauet ein stattliches Haus (?We have built this stately house?), and a triumphant finale on Gaudeamus igitur (?So Let Us Rejoice?) that was commonly performed at many European high school and university graduation ceremonies.