Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast

"Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast" (King Christian stood by the lofty mast), is the Danish royal anthem. It also has equal status of national anthem together with Der er et yndigt land, though it is almost exclusively used in relation to the Danish royal house and the Danish Military. Usually only the first verse is sung on official occasions. Adopted in 1780, it is one of the oldest national anthems in the world.Infobox Anthem
title = Kong Kristian Stod Ved Højen Mast
english_title = King Christian stood by the lofty mast
alt_title = Kong Kristian (short)
alt_title_2 = Kongesangen
en_alt_title_2 = The King's Anthem
prefix = National and Royal
country = Flagcountry|DNK
author = Johannes Ewald
lyrics_date = 1778
composer = Composer Unknown
adopted = 1780
sound = United_States_Navy_Band_-_Kong_Kristian_stod_ved_højen_mast.ogg
sound_title = "Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast" (instrumental)

The lyrics

History of the lyrics

The lyrics first appeared in May 1778cite web
accessdate=2008-08-20
title=Tekstens historie og den tidligste melodi
url=http://www.kb.dk/da/nb/tema/fokus/nat/k31.html
format=html
publisher=Royal Danish Library] , in Johannes Ewald's play, "The Fishermen", which premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in January 1780 on the birthday of King Christan VII. The play depicts the heroics of fishermen from the northern part of Zealand, who saved a lot of sailors from drowning and then refused to take pay 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, in particular because of the King Christian song. In the original staging of the play however, only the final 4th verse was ever sung. The first three verses were omitted because of the animosity they showed towards Sweden, who at the time were an important ally against the United Kingdom as members of the League of Armed Neutrality.

Theme

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

History of the music

It has long been debated who composed the music to the song. It was originally accredited to Johann Hartmann, the same composer who wrote the score for the original play ‘’Fiskerne’’, where the lyrics had first appeared, however his original romantic score for the play was entirely different from the score commonly used todaycite web
accessdate=2008-08-20
title=Spørgsmålet om komponisten
url=http://www.kb.dk/da/nb/tema/fokus/nat/kc44.html
format=html
publisher=Royal Danish Library] . Following the dismissal of the possibility that Hartmann could have composed the score, it was suggested that a friend of Johannes Ewald, High Court judge Ditlev Ludvig Rogert, who was known to have played the violin, had been the original composer – a claim that 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 also often wrongfully accredited to Friedrich Kuhlau, who made ‘’King Christian’’ a popular anthem by using his own arrangement of the score in his play Elverhøjcite web
accessdate=2008-08-20
title=Kongesang
url=http://www.kb.dk/da/nb/tema/fokus/nat/kc43.html
format=html
publisher=Royal Danish Library] , which premiered at the wedding between Crown Prince Frederik (The later King Frederik VII) and Princess Vilhelmine in November of 1828.

Lyrics

{| class="navbox collapsible collapsed" style="padding-left:20px;"
-! class="plainlinksneverexpand" | English translation by "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow"
-|;1:King Christian stood by the lofty mast:In mist and smoke;:His sword was hammering so fast,:Through Gothic helm and brain it passed;:Then sank each hostile hulk and mast,:In mist and smoke.:"Fly!" shouted they, "fly, he who can!:Who braves of Denmark's Christian,:Who braves of Denmark's Christian,:In battle?"

;2:Niels Juel gave heed to the tempest's roar,:Now is the hour!:He hoisted his blood-red flag once more,:And smote upon the foe full sore,:And shouted loud, through the tempest's roar,:"Now is the hour!":"Fly!" shouted they, "for shelter fly!:Of Denmark's Juel who can defy,:Of Denmark's Juel who can defy,:The power?"

;3:North Sea! a glimpse of Wessel rent:Thy murky sky!:Then champions to thine arms were sent;:Terror and Death glared where he went;:From the waves was heard a wail, that rent:Thy murky sky!:From Denmark thunders Tordenskiol',:Let each to Heaven commend his soul,:Let each to Heaven commend his soul,:And fly!

;4:Path of the Dane to fame and might!:Dark-rolling wave!:Receive thy friend, who, scorning flight,:Goes to meet danger with despite,:Proudly as thou the tempest's might,:Dark-rolling wave!:And amid pleasures and alarms,:And war and victory, be thine arms,:And war and victory, be thine arms,:My grave!
-

External links

* [http://www.um.dk/um_files/Denmark/music/KingChristian.mp3 MP3 File]

References