Drinking songs and other music by Brahms at Saturday's Louisville Orchestra performance at the Ogle.

There's a reason I'm always riffing on the same refrain. Last evening, it was time for another Louisville Orchestra concert at the Paul W. Ogle Cultural & Community Center at IU Southeast.

Inspired by the mountains and countryside of Austria, Brahms wrote his Second Symphony — a work that evokes both victory and peace. The composer wrote his Academic Festival Overture as a “thank you” for an honorary degree. It’s a sparkling mix of student drinking songs that were popular in the era and offered a cheeky response to the “serious” occasion.

JOHANNES BRAHMS: Academic Festival Overture
JOHANNES BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2 in D Major

I've always enjoyed the story behind the Academic Festival Overture, which Brahms wrote for the occasion of an honorary degree bestowed on him by the University of Braslau.

No doubt the premiere was intended to be a solemn occasion. As an unspoken reciprocation of their award, the University of Breslau had anticipated that Brahms, one of the greatest living composers (albeit one who had not attended college), would write a suitable new work to be played at the award ceremony. There is little doubt that what he provided confounded his hosts’ expectations. Rather than composing some ceremonial equivalent of Pomp and Circumstance—a more standard response—Brahms crafted what he described as a “rollicking potpourri of student songs,” in this case mostly drinking songs. It is easy to imagine the amusement of the assembled students, as well as the somewhat less-amused reaction of the school dignitaries, to Brahms’s lighthearted caprice.

It's very reminiscent of my academic career at IU Southeast.

But seriously, the concert on Saturday night (conducted by Teddy Abrams) was the third of four "neighborhood" appearances by the LO at Ogle this season, and reiterating, the Confidentials adore the convenience of the orchestra in our backyard.

Both the LO's series and the venue itself are chronically underrated assets for the city of New Albany.

On the Louisville Orchestra, Debussy, Mozart, Brahms and a lovely meal at La Chasse.

Brahms' favorite
Vienna tavern was
the Red Hedgehog.

We attended last evening's Louisville Orchestra concert at Whitney Hall, and as usual, it was stellar.

Debussy's impressionistic tone poem long has been a personal favorite, and the other two pieces by Mozart and Brahms, while less familiar to me, struck responsive chords.

CLASSICS: BRAHMS SECOND

CLAUDE DEBUSSY: Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun
MOZART: Sinfonia concertante for violin, viola and orchestra
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73
Julia Noone, violin
Jack Griffin, viola
Vladimir Kulenovic, guest conductor

In the LO's program notes, written by Mark Rohr, Mozart is introduced.

Wolfgang Amadè Mozart (he never used "Amadeus" except when making a joke) was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756 and died in Vienna in 1791.

I had no idea about Mozart's name disparities.

The 19th century saw the gradual victory of "Amadeus" over alternative middle names.

Yes, there's always something new to learn, albeit with a twist. Returning home, I watched a brief video biography of Brahms, in which it was revealed that as a very young man, he often performed as a hired musician in bars and brothels.

Alas, it probably isn't true.

Lurid stories of the impoverished adolescent Brahms playing in bars and brothels have only anecdotal provenance, and modern scholars dismiss them; the Brahms family was relatively prosperous, and Hamburg legislation in any case very strictly forbade music in, or the admittance of minors to, brothels.

Damn. Especially nowadays, there's always something to unlearn, too.

The other lesson taught me on Saturday night is that I may have arrived at the advanced age where eating (and drinking) a meal of duck wings, ribeye steak, fixings and two classic Belgian Trappist ales before an 8:00 p.m. show featuring contemplative music from the classical realm may have ceased to be a good idea.

In short, through no fault of the music, my eyelids were heavy. I'm not sure this would had been any different had the main event been Bob Mould and not Brahms.

It's also no reflection on the excellence of La Chasse, at which we indulged in our massive pre-concert feast. I previously mentioned La Chasse in early November.

La Chasse is hosting a Capriole Farms Goat Cheese Dinner on November 14, and you need to go.

I seldom promote events occurring across the wide expanse of water, over yonder in the big city, but this one's special for numerous Hoosier reasons ... the acclaimed La Chasse is Isaac Fox's restaurant. Old-timers will remember Isaac from Bistro New Albany and Speakeasy.

The Capriole goat cheese dinner was superb, and so was the meal last night. Among other attributes, Isaac maintains one of the better short beer lists in Louisville. Wine and spirits are the emphasis, but La Chasse would be a marvelous venue for a paired French Bieres de Garde blowout.

If any beer reps are reading ...

As a closing observation, there was a time not so long ago when the Sunday edition of the Courier-Journal, or perhaps Monday's, would have included a review of the orchestra's performance from the resident music critic. Even during the early 1980s when I couldn't afford to go see the orchestra play, I'd read the reviews and try to find the music at the library. It was my learning process.

When did I get so old?