~~Tunes For The Troops~~
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This N’That
~~Tunes For The Troops~~
Want more information about the artists we play?
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CDs? Click the links provided at the top of the
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The worst thing that happened was that the marriage of Joseph and Amalie Joachim was on the ropes. There were rumors that Amalie was conducting a torrid affair with Fritz Simrock, and Joachim believed them. Jo Brahms knew the players well enough to know that there was no truth to these stories, and he tried to get Joseph to see that. Brahms sent a short note to Amalie explaining how he knew well his old friend’s jealous streak. Amalie asked if she could use that letter as a character reference, and Brahms assented. Four years later, that assent was to lead to disaster.
Brahms had received an honorary doctorate from the University of Breslau, then in Germany and now known as Wroclaw in Poland, and he was asked to contribute a piece to the festivities that would be conducted by Joachim leading the student orchestra. When Brahms told them that the title was “Academic Festival Overture”, they thought that Jo was going to give them something glorifying student academics. Instead, Brahms gave them a piece that glorified student – drinking. The faculty may not have been amused, but the students loved the piece, which strung together a whole collection of European college drinking songs.
Brahms: “Academic Festival Overture”, Op. 80
The companion piece is the famous “Tragic Overture” which is in sonata format and could well have been the first movement of a symphony.