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English: So Let Us Rejoice | |
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Official anthem of FISU World University Games and the International University Sports Federation | |
Lyrics | Unknown, 1287 |
Music | Unknown, 1782 |
Adopted | 1959 |
"De Brevitate Vitae" (Latin for "On the Shortness of Life"), more commonly known as "Gaudeamus igitur" ("So Let Us Rejoice") or just "Gaudeamus", is a popular academic commercium song in many European countries, mainly sung or performed at university graduation ceremonies. Despite its use as a formal graduation hymn, it is a jocular, light-hearted composition that pokes fun at university life. The song is thought to originate in a Latin manuscript from 1287. It is in the tradition of carpe diem ("seize the day") with its exhortations to enjoy life. It was known as a beer-drinking song in many early universities and is the official song of many schools, colleges, universities, institutions, student societies and is the official anthem of the International University Sports Federation.
The lyrics reflect an endorsement of the bacchanalian mayhem of student life while simultaneously retaining the grim knowledge that one day we will all die. The song contains humorous and ironic references to sex [1] and death, and many versions have appeared following efforts to bowdlerise this song for performance in public ceremonies. In private, students will typically sing ribald words.
The song is sometimes known by its opening words, "Gaudeamus igitur" or simply "Gaudeamus". In the UK, it is sometimes affectionately known as "The Gaudie". The centuries of use have given rise to numerous slightly different versions.
The proposition that the lyrics originate in 1287 [2] is based on a manuscript held in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. A poem starting with the words Subscribere proposui ("I have suggested signing (it)") has two verses that closely resemble the later Gaudeamus igitur verses, although neither the first verse nor the actual words Gaudeamus igitur appear. The music accompanying this poem bears no relation to the melody which is now associated with it. A German translation of these verses was made in about 1717 and published in 1730 without music. A Latin version in a handwritten student songbook, dating from some time between 1723 and 1750, is preserved in the Berlin State Library (formerly located at Marburg); however, this differs considerably from the modern text. The current Latin lyrics with a German translation were published by Halle in 1781 in Studentenlieder ("Students' Songs") [2] written by Christian Wilhelm Kindleben (1748-1785), [3] who admitted to making important changes to the text. [2]
Below is Kindleben's 1781 Latin version, with two translations to English (one anonymous, and another by Tr. J. Mark Sugars, 1997 [4] [5] ). The New-Latin word Antiburschius refers to opponents of the 19th-century politically active German student fraternities.
When sung, the first two lines and the last line of each stanza are repeated; for instance:
Gaudeamus igitur,
Iuvenes dum sumus,
Gaudeamus igitur,
Iuvenes dum sumus!
Post iucundam iuventutem,
Post molestam senectutem,
Nos habebit humus,
Nos habebit humus.
Latin [6] | English[ citation needed ] | English (Mark Sugars, 1997) |
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Gaudeamus igitur, | So, let us rejoice | While we're young, let us rejoice, |
Ubi sunt, qui ante nos | Where are they who, before us, | Where are those who trod this globe |
Vita nostra brevis est, | Our life is brief | Life is short and all too soon |
Vivat Academia, | Long live the academy! | Long live our academy, |
Vivant omnes virgines | Long live all virgins, | Long live all the maidens fair, |
Vivat et respublica, | Long live the state as well | Long live our Republic and |
Pereat tristitia, | May sadness perish! | Down with sadness, down with gloom, |
The first appearance in print of the present melody was in Lieder für Freunde der Geselligen Freude ("Songs for Friends of Convivial Joy"), published in Leipzig in 1782, together with Kindleben's German lyrics; however, the tune was evidently well known before this date. The first publication of the present Latin text together with the present melody was probably in Ignaz Walter's 1797 operatic setting of Doktor Faust . [2] It is also heard in Berlioz' Damnation of Faust.
Johannes Brahms quoted the melody in the final section of his Academic Festival Overture , in a fortissimo rendition performed by the full orchestra.
Sigmund Romberg used it in the operetta The Student Prince , which is set at the University of Heidelberg. [7]
It is quoted in Johann Strauss II's "Studenten-Polka" (Française, Op.263), first performed at the students' ball at the Redoutensaal on 24 February 1862.
The tune is quoted, along with other student songs, in the overture of Franz von Suppé's 1863 operetta Flotte Burschen, the action being once again set at the University of Heidelberg. [8]
Basing it on the original melody, Franz Liszt has composed the Gaudeamus igitur—Paraphrase and later (1870) the Gaudeamus igitur—Humoreske. [9]
Modern version is rearrangement for male chorus with piano accompaniment, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1874) (TH 187 ; ČW 413).
Tom Lehrer mentioned the Gaudeamus in his satirical song, "Bright College Days":
Turn on the spigot
Pour the beer and swig it
And gaudeamus igit-itur
In 1979, New England Science Fiction Association member Joe Ross wrote a parody of the song, with lyrics referencing the 1955 film This Island Earth . The parody was titled "Haec Insula Terra" (a Latin translation of the film's title) and was published in the first volume of the NESFA Hymnal.
The National Anthem of Austria, also known by its incipit "Land der Berge, Land am Strome", was adopted in 1946. The melody, originally attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was matched with a text by Paula von Preradović the following year.
August Heinrich Hoffmann was a German poet. He is best known for writing "Das Lied der Deutschen", whose third stanza is now the national anthem of Germany, and a number of popular children's songs, considered part of the Young Germany movement.
Julius Sturm, German poet, was born at Köstritz in the principality of Reuss.
Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis, also: Sined the Bard, was an Austrian Catholic priest and Jesuit, who is best known as a poet, bibliographer, and lepidopterist.
Neidhartc. 1190 – c. 1240 was one of the most famous Minnesänger. With around 1500 documented strophes of his songs surviving, Neidhart has the largest corpus of surviving lyrics of any Minnesänger, suggesting the great popularity of the songs. In addition, and quite unlike any of his contemporaries, many melodies to his songs have been preserved: manuscripts have almost 70 melodies to 55 of his songs.
Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80, by Johannes Brahms, was one of a pair of contrasting concert overtures — the other being the Tragic Overture, Op. 81. Brahms composed the work during the summer of 1880 as a tribute to the University of Breslau, which had notified him that it would award him an honorary doctorate in philosophy.
"The Faithful Hussar" is a German song based on a folk song known in various versions since the 19th century. In its current standard form, it is a song from the Cologne Carnival since the 1920s.
"Erika" is a German marching song. It is primarily associated with the German Army, especially that of Nazi Germany, although its text has no political content. It was created by Herms Niel and published in 1938, and soon came into usage by the Wehrmacht. It was frequently played during Nazi Party public events. According to British soldier, historian, and author Major General Michael Tillotson, it was the single most popular marching song of any country during the Second World War.
Volkslied is a genre of popular songs in German which are traditionally sung. While many of them were first passed orally, several collections were published from the late 18th century. Later, some popular songs were also included in this classification.
Vaterlandslied is the name of several patriotic German poems. The most famous one is "Ich bin ein deutsches Mädchen" written by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock in 1770 and dedicated to Johanna Elisabeth von Winthem.
The ceremonial Landesvater is a German college custom developed in the 18th century, where student caps are pierced with the blade of a sword, during the recital of a particular song. The song that accompanies this event is also called 'Landesvater'. The word Landesvater is also used as a name for the prime ministers of the individual German states, or Länder.
"Im schwarzen Walfisch zu Askalon" is a popular academic commercium song. It was known as a beer-drinking song in many German speaking ancient universities. Joseph Victor von Scheffel provided the lyrics under the title Altassyrisch 1854, the melody is from 1783 or earlier.
Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn, was the first German hymnal harmonised for choir, published in Wittenberg in 1524 by Johann Walter who collaborated with Martin Luther. It contains 32 sacred songs, including 24 by Luther, in settings by Walter for three to five parts with the melody in the tenor. Luther wrote a preface for the part books. The collection has been called the root of all Protestant song music.
"Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet" is a Lutheran hymn of 1524 with words written by Martin Luther who used an older first stanza and melody. It is a song of thanks after communion. Luther's version in three stanzas was printed in the Erfurt Enchiridion of 1524 and in Johann Walter's choral hymnal Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn the same year. Today, the song appears in German hymnals, including both the Protestant Evangelisches Gesangbuch, and in a different version in the Catholic Gotteslob.
Neues Geistliches Lied, abbreviated NGL, is a music genre of songs in German intended for church usage, and based on contemporary lyrics and with music by contemporary composers.
"Macht hoch die Tür" is a popular German Advent hymn, written in 17th century Ducal Prussia. The lyrics were written by Georg Weissel in 1623 for the inauguration of the Altroßgärter Kirche in Königsberg. The melody that is now associated with the text appeared first in 1704 in the hymnal by Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen.
Christoph Bernhard Verspoell was a German Catholic priest, writer and hymnwriter. He published a hymnal with added melodies and organ settings in 1810. Some of his songs are still popular and are part of the Catholic hymnal Gotteslob.
"Einer ist unser Leben" is a poem in five stanzas, written by Lothar Zenetti in 1973. It became a Christian hymn of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied (NGL) with a 1971 melody by Jean Liesse. The song is part of many hymnals, both Catholic and Protestant, and of songbooks, remaining popular in the 21st century.
Wir sind des Geyers schwarzer Haufen is an interwar-era German marching song. Composed around the 1920s, the lyrics of the song are sourced from the poem Ich bin der arme Konrad by the Bavarian poet and artillery officer Heinrich von Reder (1824–1909). The melody of the song is arranged by German songwriter and later National Socialist Fritz Sotke (1902–1970) in 1919. As a song about the German Peasants' War, the song lyrics are noted for their strong anti-clerical and anti-noble themes.
Busso X von Alvensleben was a Catholic ecclesiastical diplomat and from 1523 to 1548 as Busso II, the last Catholic Bishop of Havelberg.
Other (often non-original but altered) text variants:
Songs: