Music Otto Lindblad | Adopted 1844 | |
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Lyrics Carl Vilhelm August Strandberg | ||
Kungssången (English: The King's Song) is the Swedish royal anthem. It is also known by its first line, Ur svenska hjärtans djup en gång (English: Once from the depths of Swedish hearts). Although sung on such occasions as the King's birthday, the annual opening of the Riksdag and the Nobel Prize ceremony, this song is not in fact the Swedish national anthem: that is Du gamla, Du fria.
The lyrics were written by Carl Vilhelm August Strandberg and the music composed for four part male chorus by Otto Lindblad. Kungssången replaced the previous royal anthem, Bevare Gud vår kung, which was sung to the melody of the British royal anthem, God Save the King. It was first performed in Lund on 5 December 1844 at a party arranged by the University to celebrate the accession of King Oscar I, and was officially adopted in 1893.
Only the first and fifth stanzas are normally sung (and only the first if the King is present). The other three are very rarely ever heard.