Hans Christian Lumbye is today the internationally best known and most popular Danish composer of dances of the 19th Century. In 1843 when the now world-famous amusement park Tivoli opened its gates in Copenhagen, Lumbye acquired a permanent setting for his long and prolific composing and conducting career as the leader of the concert hall’s orchestra. In the best of his works his orchestrations have a distinctive, lyrical, almost pristine Copenhagen sound that differs from the Vienna composers’ more hot-blooded orchestral tone. This album celebrates the special freshness and artistic integrity of his delightful music.