Composed 1880; Duration: 10 minutes

First BPO Performance: November 15, 1936 (Franco Autori, conductor)

Last BPO Performance: April 8-9, 2006 (JoAnn Falletta, conductor)

Johannes Brahms was finally enjoying a steady career when, at age 47, he was granted an honorary doctorate by Poland’s University of Breslau. Despite his success, he had developed a reputation for curmudgeonry, and the once stoically handsome pianist was now beer-bellied and bearded with long, hastily slicked-back hair. 

Brahms’ inherent self-doubt inhibited his early successes, and certain events made his life particularly difficult, from the loss of his friend Robert Schumann to his public battles with composers of opposing factions. It was satisfying then to be lauded upon the premiere of his long-awaited first symphony in 1876 when he was 43. His stardom quickly rose and he was able to enjoy well-earned fame.

Brahms seemed tickled to have a university honor him in 1880, and as a thank-you, he composed the Academic Festival Overture. Appropriately for Brahms, the duality of his life’s successes and failures were illustrated with a second, balancing work, the Tragic Overture, and of the pair he commented, “one laughs while the other cries.” Brahms himself conducted the Academic Festival Overture for a solemn graduation ceremony at the University. The smart-aleck composer took delight in the buoyant work, as it celebrated the students while ruffling the feathers of the sober—so to speak—academic leadership: everyone recognized the college drinking songs heard throughout the work.