Gaudeamus igitur (Anonymous)
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CPDL #27073: Finale 2011
- Editor: James W. Keefe (submitted 2012-09-02). Score information: Letter, 7 pages Copyright: Personal
- Edition notes: in English
- CPDL #10745: Sibelius 3
- Editor: Philip Legge (submitted 2006-01-15). Score information: A4, 1 page, 108 kB Copyright: Personal
- Edition notes: Included in the TUMS Busking Book. International students' song, in one of the more familiar SATB arrangements.
General Information
Title: Gaudeamus igitur
Composer: Anonymous
Number of voices: 4vv Voicing: SATB
Genre: Secular, Partsong
Languages: Latin, English
Instruments: a cappella
Description: Gaudeamus Igitur is probably the most popular of the surviving "drinking songs" associated with the members of the medieval universities. These universities sprang up in various centers of western Europe, largely in the 12th and 13th centuries. Many of them are still in exisence. The cliche, "wine, women, and song," is a reasonable description of the typical contents of their "drinking songs," which often, as in the above specimen, included a certain amount of ribaldry.
Gaudeamus Igitur gradually accumulated many more verses than the five that are in our version, in an entirely different order. Wikipedia includes in its encyclopedia a whole entry devoted to Gaudeamus Igitur. It includes all of the stanzas above, together with five additional new ones.
When the German composer, Johannes Brahms, was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Breslau in 1880, he showed his gratitude by composing his Academic Festival Overture, based on themes from medieval student songs. The climax of the work is a brilliant rendition of the traditional Gaudeamus Igitur theme.
External websites:
Texts and translations
Latin text 1. Gaudeamus igitur, Note: this song's popularity is worldwide: there are many more verses than the five here – usually one sees 3, 5, 7, or 10 verse versions, and the editor (of CPDL #10745) has 2 additional verses specific to his native city's Alma mater. Furthermore, there are many variant forms of the actual Latin texts, as well as a much larger number of metrical translations or transliterations, into a very wide range of languages. |
English translation Translation supplied by Paul Pascal, Professor Emeritus of Classics, University of Washington 1. So, let us enjoy ourselves |