I think some time in the late 19th c there was a book published
called The Scottish Students' Songbook which had lots of translations
of 18th-19th c German student songs in it (Im Keller kuehl and all
the rest). Gaudeamus igitur figures in it prominently. The next time
I visit my parents I'll borrow my father's copy of this useful work
and consult it. I suspect that all the Scottish universities had
quite a lively singing tradition until about the middle of this
century, but only a ghost of it survives, even at St Andrews (and
note: no apostrophe in St Andrews - the 's' on the end is a
reflection of an old form of the name Andrew in Scots, just as the
's' of Andreas survives in the Scandinavian form of the name,
Anders).
Julia Barrow
Organization: University of Warwick
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 1999 17:20:34 +0100 (BST)
Priority: normal
Subject: Re: Gaudeamus igitur
From: "Duncan Givans" <[log in to unmask]>
To: F Shaw <[log in to unmask]>, [log in to unmask]
Reply-to: [log in to unmask]
Further to the interest in the gaudeamus igitur hymn, I was
wondering if students still sung it anywhere else in the
world other than St Andrew's in Scotland. As undergraduates there
we had the opportunity to sing the gaude, as it is known, on a number
of high days, holidays and other occasions, including graduation, when
parents joined in! I graduated in 1995 and can vouch for the
continuation of this practice. To my knowledge, none of my friends
at other UK, Australian or US universities sang it, so I have always
thought of the practice as another peculiarity of St Andrew's, along
with red gowns, pier walks in foce 6 North Sea gales, and a character
called the hebdomader (sic) who was in charge of welfare and
discipline.
But are there others who sang/sing this Latin hymn at universities in
recent years??
It is a bit of an over statement to say that we sang it: only a few
knew the words; those that had a copy to hand were unfamiliar with
the sound of what was written in front of them; and many more
were under the influnce of at least something when time came to sing.
As such for, 'sing', read 'drone' or, more accurately, 'politely,
but energetically impersonate farm yard animals while a kindly
member of what is left of the music department leads the assembled
in rejoicing'. Great fun!
best wishes
Duncan Givans
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