Gaudeamus igitur
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (October 2017) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
| English: So Let Us Rejoice | |
|---|---|
 Postcard with symbols of traditional German student life from 1898 | |
Official anthem of  FISU World University Games and the International University Sports Federation | |
| Lyrics | Unknown, 1287 |
| Music | Unknown, 1782 |
| Adopted | 1959 |
"Gaudeamus igitur" (Latin for "So let us rejoice") or just "Gaudeamus", also known as "De brevitate vitae" ("On the Shortness of Life"), 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.
Content
[edit]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: memento mori. The song contains humorous and ironic references to sex[1] and death, and many versions bowdlerising the text 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.
Lyrics
[edit]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 Neo-Latin word Antiburschius refers to opponents of the 19th-century politically active German student fraternities.
| Latin[6] | English (literally) | English (Mark Sugars, 1997)[4] |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Gaudeamus igitur, |
So, let us rejoice |
While we're young, let us rejoice, |
|
2. Ubi sunt, qui ante nos |
Where are they who, before us, |
Where are those who trod this globe |
|
3. Vita nostra brevis est, |
Our life is brief |
Life is short and all too soon |
|
4. Vivat Academia, |
Long live the academy! |
Long live our academy, |
|
5. Vivant omnes virgines |
Long live all virgins, |
Long live all the maidens fair, |
|
6. Vivat et respublica, |
Long live the state as well |
Long live our Republic and |
|
7. Pereat tristitia, |
May sadness perish! |
Down with sadness, down with gloom, |
Music
[edit]![\header { tagline = ##f }
\layout { indent = 0 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t
\context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" }
}
global = { \key bes \major \time 3/4 \autoBeamOff }
soprano = \relative c'' { \global \set midiInstrument = "trumpet"
\repeat volta 2 { bes8.\f f16 f4 bes | g8. g16 g2 | a8. bes16 c4 a | bes8 ([d]) bes2 | }
a8.\mf bes16 c4 c | d8 bes c4 c | a8. bes16 c4 c | d8 bes c4 c |
bes8. a16 g8\< ([es']) d ([c]) | \tempo 4 = 81 d4 (c) \tempo 4 = 45 bes\fermata | \tempo 4 = 90
bes8.\f a16 g8\< ([es']) d ([c]) | \tempo 4 = 60 f4\ff (a,) bes~ | bes2 r4 \bar "|."
}
alto = \relative c' { \global \set midiInstrument = "trumpet"
\repeat volta 2 { d8. f16 f4 f | es8. es16 es2 | es8. bes'16 es,4 es | f d2 | }
f8. bes16 f4 f | f8 bes a4 f | f8. g16 a4 a | bes8 f a4 f |
f8. f16 es8 ([c']) b ([g]) | bes4 a g | f8. f16 es8 ([c']) b ([g]) | d'4 es, f~ | f2 r4 \bar "|."
}
tenor = \relative c { \global \set midiInstrument = "baritone sax"
\repeat volta 2 { f4 bes, bes | bes8. bes16 bes2 | c8. bes16 es4 es | d f bes, | }
f8. bes16 a8 ([g]) a ([f]) | f' bes, a4 f' | f8. f16 f4 f | f8 d f, ([g]) a ([f']) |
d8. d16 es8 ([g]) f ([es]) | f4 (es) d | bes8. bes16 bes8 ([g']) f ([es]) | bes4 (c) d~ | d2 r4 \bar "|."
}
bass = \relative c, { \global \set midiInstrument = "tuba"
\repeat volta 2 { bes4 bes d | es es g | f8. g16 a4 f | bes, f' bes | }
f8. bes16 a8 ([g]) a ([f]) | bes g f ([es]) f ([g]) | a8. bes16 a8 ([g]) a ([f]) | bes, d f ([g]) a ([f]) |
bes8. bes16 es,8 ([c]) d ([es]) | f4 (fis) g\fermata | d8. d16 es8 ([c]) d ([es]) | f4 (f8 [es]) bes4~ | bes2 r4 \bar "|."
}
verse = \lyricmode {
\repeat volta 2 { Gau -- de -- a -- mus i -- gi -- tur,
iu -- ve -- nes dum su -- mus! }
Post iu -- cun -- dam iu -- ven -- tu -- tem,
post mo -- les -- tam se -- nec -- tu -- tem,
nos ha -- be -- bit hu -- mus,
nos ha -- be -- bit hu -- mus.
}
\score {
\new ChoirStaff <<
\new Staff \with { \consists "Merge_rests_engraver" }
<<
\new Voice = "soprano" { \voiceOne \soprano }
\new Voice = "alto" { \voiceTwo \alto }
>>
\new Lyrics \lyricsto "soprano" \verse
\new Staff \with { \consists "Merge_rests_engraver" }
<<
\clef bass
\new Voice = "tenor" { \voiceOne \tenor }
\new Voice = "bass" { \voiceTwo \bass }
>>
>>
\layout { }
}
\score { \unfoldRepeats { << \soprano \\ \alto \\ \tenor \\ \bass >> }
\midi { \tempo 4=102
\context { \Score midiChannelMapping = #'instrument }
\context { \Staff \remove "Staff_performer" }
\context { \Voice \consists "Staff_performer" }
}
}](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/r/b/rbamcedte6wx6rdy8tu15uz8683j8w3/rbamcedt.png)
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 Goethe's Faust.[2] It is also heard in Berlioz' La Damnation de 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 ballroom in the Vienna Hofburg on 24 February 1862.
The tune is quoted, along with other student songs, in the overture of Franz von Suppé's 1863 operetta Flotte Bursche, the action being once again set at the University of Heidelberg.[8]
Based on the original melody, Franz Liszt composed the "Gaudeamus igitur—Paraphrase" and later (1870) the "Gaudeamus igitur—Humoreske".[9] Pyotr Tchaikovsky made an arrangement for male chorus with piano accompaniment (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. Warwick Academy in Bermuda uses part of the lyrics as their school song.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ For instance, the noun membrum (member) has the same double meaning in Latin as in English.
- ^ a b c d Fuld, James J. (1966) The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk, Dover Publications (2012 edition), ISBN 978-0486414751 (pp. 241–242)
- ^ Papadopoulos, George-Julius (2005), Johannes Brahms and Nineteenth-Century Comic Ideology, University of Washington (p. 360)
- ^ a b "Gaudeamus igitur / Brüder laßt uns lustig sein". Ingeb.org. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
- ^ "Gaudeamus igitur". morec.com. Christopher S. Morrissey, Trinity Western University. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
- ^ Kindleben, Christian Wilhelm (1781). "Gaudeamus igitur". Studentenlieder (in Latin and German). pp. 56–58.
- ^ Everett, William A (2007), Sigmund Romberg Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0300111835 (pp. 142–143)
- ^ "Suppé: Famous Overtures". www.naxos.com. Naxos Digital Services. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- ^ "Gaudeamus igitur – Humoreske, S509". www.hyperion-records.co.uk. Hyperion.
Further reading
[edit]- Randolph, Charles B. (April 1912). "Three Latin Students' Songs". The Classical Journal. 7 (7): 291–305. JSTOR 3287680 – via Internet Archive.
- Vakulyk, Iryna (May 2020). "Gaudeamus: from Source of Origin to Cult". Mìžnarodnij fìlologìčnij časopis (in English and Ukrainian). 11 (2): 46–51. doi:10.31548/philolog2020.02.046. ISSN 2706-9737.
External links
[edit]
- Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Gustav Schwetschke: Gaudeamus igitur. Eine Studie von Hoffmann von Fallersleben. Nebst einem Sendschreiben und Carmen an Denselben von Gustav Schwetschke. Halle, 1872.
Other (often non-original but altered) text variants:
- Johann Christian Christoph Rüdiger (editor, published as only "R-d-r"): Auswahl guter Trinklieder, oder Töne der Freude und des Weins, beym freundschaftlichen Mahle anzustimmen. Aus den besten Dichtern gesammlet. – Trink- oder Commersch-Lieder, beym freundschaftlichen Mahle zu singen, aus den besten Dichtern gesammlet. 2nd edition, Hendelscher Verlag, Halle 1795, p. 142–143.
- Neues deutsches allgemeines Commers- und Liederbuch. Germania, 1815, p. 20–21 and 180–183 (Das neue Gaudeamus).
- Leipziger Commersbuch. Bei Karl Tauchnitz, Leipzig, 1816, p. 106–108.
- Berlinisches Commersbuch. Bey Theodor Joh. Chr. Fr. Enslin, Berlin, 1817, p. 27–28 and 158–159 (Das neue Gaudeamus).
- Neues Commersbuch. Germania, 1818, p. 42–43.
- Neues teutsches allgemeines Commers- und Liederbuch. 3rd edition, Germania, 1820 (Tübingen in der Osiander'schen Buchhandlung), p. 25–26.
- Auswahl deutscher Volks- und Burschen-Lieder. Gedruckt und verlegt von der Deckerschen Geheimen Ober-Hofbuchdruckerei, Berlin, 1821, p. 113–114.
- Urceus Lebensreise. – Meine Lebensreise. In sechs Stazionen zur Belehrung der Jugend und zur Unterhaltung des Alters beschrieben von Urceus. Nebst Franz Volkmar Reinhard's Briefen an den Verfasser. Leipzig, 1825, p. 179–180 containg Das neue Gaudeamus (The new Gaudeamus).
- Deutsche Studenten-Lieder des siebzehnten und achtzehnten Jahrhunderts. Nach alten Handschriften gesammelt und mit einleitenden Bemerkungen über die geschichte des deutschen Studentenliedes versehen von Dr. Robert Keil und Dr. Richard Keil. Verlag M. Schauenburg & C., Lahr, pp. 165–167
- Waite, Henry Randall, ed. (January 1876). "Gaudeamus (in English)". Carmina Collegensia. Translated by J. A. Pearce Jr. Oliver Ditson. p. 71 – via Internet Archive.
- Bartholomew, Marshall, ed. (1934) [1882]. "Gaudeamus". Songs of Yale. New York: Schirmer. pp. 20–21 – via Internet Archive.
- a medical travesty, by Kayser from Breslau:
Songs:
- Video on YouTube, performed by the Roosevelt Academy Choir, Middelburg, Netherlands
- Video on YouTube, at Smith College convocation, 2008; note the stomping and enthusiasm for the "Vivat academia!" and "Vivant professores" lines.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
