About the work
Elverhøj (Elves’ Hill) is a five-act romantic festival play by Johan Ludvig Heiberg with interpolated songs selected and arranged by the composer Friedrich Kuhlau. King Frederik VI commissioned it for the wedding of his daughter Vilhelmine Marie; it premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen on 6 November 1828.
Plot
The plot combines the legend of the elf hill near Stevns with a story of switched-at-birth children, set in the reign of King Christian IV, who himself appears in disguise to set matters right. Amid folk belief, mistaken identity and courtly intrigue, the true parentage of the characters is finally revealed.
Cultural significance
Elverhøj has remained Denmark’s national celebration play, performed more than 1,000 times at the Royal Theatre. Its final act contains the tune that became the Danish royal anthem "Kong Christian stod ved højen mast".