Champagne! Lumbye and the sound of Tivoli!

Concerto Copenhagen rediscovers the absolute hits from 1840’s and Tivoli’s greatest attraction – music of the legendary H. C. Lumbye.

Today when we normally hear the Champagne Galop it is played by modern symphony orchestras with 60 musicians or even more, but it has not always been that way.

When Georg Carstensen the 15th of August in 1843 stood by Tivoli’s main entrance with fine white glows on and shaked his hands to every 3.000 guest on the opening day of Tivoli, the main attraction was H. C. Lumbye and his 22 musicians that played concerts in the concert hall. The repertoire was primarily Lumbye’s own music – waltzes, polkas, and galops played by an orchestra with musicians both from the military and The Royal Theatre. Lumbye simply united instruments and traditions from two worlds in one orchestra! Lumbye’s concertos became quickly famous also outside the borders of Tivoli and Denmark. Lumbye himself was known as “the Nordic Strauss” a celebrity abroad with successful tours in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin.

But how did the music sound back then in the 1840’s in Tivoli?

Back then the music had to prove itself in a tough environment. The concert hall was only 240 square meters and simply build of boards covered with a canvas – thus if it was raining then the concert was paused or cancelled.

Nevertheless, it was the sound of Danish pop music which Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Concerto Copenhagen now is offering their take on – as close as they can possibly get.

The orchestra has spent a lot of time and resources on notes and trying to find and fit the instruments, thus Lumbye would recognize his own orchestra.

Luckily, we do not need to recreate the tough circumstances like ultra-short rehearsals and immoderate alcohol consumption before and during the concert, and we do not need think about the weather conditions either.

The release concert celebrates the release of Concerto Copenhagen’s new album with the music of H. C. Lumbye published in collaboration with Dacapo. And Concerto Copenhagen is looking forward to inviting you in for a concert that with be a great celebration with waltzes, polkas, and not least letting the champagne pop to the tunes of the Champagne Gallop.