Kong Christian Stod Ved Højen Mast

"Kong Christian stod ved højen mast" (; ), or simply "Kong Christian", is the unofficial royal anthem of Denmark that officially has equal status of national anthem together with "Der er et yndigt land". However, it is almost exclusively used regarding the Danish royal house and the military. The theme of the song is the heroics of Danish and Norwegian sailors during the wars against Sweden (including the Torstenson War) in the 17th and 18th centuries.

On New Year's Eve, it is tradition to sing along as the Danmarks Radio Girl's Choir sings the song on television immediately after midnight following the other national anthem. Usually, only the first verse is sung on official occasions. Adopted in 1780, it is one of the oldest national anthems in the world.

History

History of the lyrics

The lyrics first appeared in May 1778 in Johannes Ewald's vaudeville play ''The Fishermen'', which premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in January 1780 on the birthday of King Christian VII. The play depicts the heroics of fishermen from the northern part of Zealand, who saved many sailors from drowning and then refused to accept a reward for it.Ove Malling: "Store og gode Handlinger af Danske, Norske og Holstenere", Copenhagen 1777 (Reprinted 1992), pp. 64–70 For this reason, the play was seen as a tribute to the navy, particularly because of the King Christian song. In the original staging, however, only the final fourth verse was ever sung. The first three verses were omitted because of the animosity they showed towards Sweden, which at the time was an important ally against the United Kingdom as a member of the League of Armed Neutrality.

Theme

The theme of the song is the heroics of Danish-Norwegian sailors during the wars against Sweden in the 17th and 18th centuries. It specifically names the Danish-Norwegian naval heroes King Christian IV, Niels Juel and Peter Wessel Tordenskiold. The first verse refers to the 1644 Battle of Colberger Heide, where King Christian IV was hurt by shrapnel and thought to be dead but quickly got to his feet and incited his crew to continue the battle.

History of the music

It has long been debated who composed the song's music. Johann Hartmann, the composer who wrote the score for the original play ''Fiskerne'', where the lyrics first appeared, was originally credited with composing the music.

Another suggestion was that Johannes Ewald's friend, High Court judge Ditlev Ludvig Rogert, known to have played the violin, had been the original composer. This claim was backed up by several 19th-century intellectuals. In 1880, Vilhelm Carl Ravn presented his theory that the score significantly preceded Ewald's poem and had no one particular composer. This is the most commonly supported theory today.

However, even today, the score is often wrongly credited to Friedrich Kuhlau. Kuhlau made "King Christian" a popular anthem by using his own arrangement of the score in his play '' Elverhøj'', which premiered at the wedding between Crown Prince Frederik (the later King Frederik VII) and Princess Vilhelmine in November 1828.

Lyrics

See also

* Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem – a musical piece by Tchaikovsky composed for the visit of the tsarevich to the Moscow Conservatoire accompanied by his new Danish wife. The piece is based on ''Kong Christian stod ved højen mast'' but also incorporates elements of the Russian national anthem.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kong Christian stod ved hojen mast
Danish anthems
Royal anthems
Cultural depictions of Christian IV of Denmark
Songs about kings
Monarchy of Denmark
Compositions in B-flat major
Historical national anthems
Denmark–Norway