King Christian II (Swedish: Kung Kristian II), Op. 27, is incidental music by Jean Sibelius for the Scandinavian historical play of the same name, written by his friend Adolf Paul. The original play deals with the love of King Christian II, ruler of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, for a Dutch girl, Dyvecke, a commoner. Sibelius composed in 1898 seven movements. He conducted the first performance of the first four parts the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki on 24 February 1898. In the following summer, he composed three more movements, Nocturne, Serenade and Ballad. The Nocturne was an interlude between the first act and the second. The position of the serenade changed. The ballad is a dramatic piece about the 1520 bloodbath which the king ordered in Stockholm. This movement shows already traits of the later First Symphony. The stage music consists of the following numbers:

Original Name Kung Kristian II
Librettist Adolf Paul
Date of composition 1898
Premiered 1898, February 24th (Swedish Theatre) in Helsinki, Finland
First published 1899
Type Incidental music
Catalogue Op. 27
Approx. duration 25 minutes
Instruments Orchestra
Links
Autotranslations beta Jean Sibelius: King Christian II, Op. 27
Jean Sibelius: King Christian II, Op. 27
Jean Sibelius: King Christian II, Op. 27