In Denmark we have a very special tradition of royal “Honnørmarcher”.* This tradition goes back to King Frederik VII, who was given a personal Honnørmarch in 1861, composed by H.C. Lumbye. Every Danish King and Queen since then, has had their own personal Honnørmarch, which functions as a musical portrait of the Majesty.

His Majesty King Frederik X was given a Honnørmarch as a Crown Prince. However, it was decided following the Throne Succession in 2024, that the King should have a new Honnørmarch. A composition competition was held and among the many anonymous contributions, a winner was found in February 2025.

The winner was David M.A.P. Palmquist, who now had the task of adapting his composition to the Kings wishes. Through a series of meetings, the King told of music that was especially meaningful to him. A number of military signals were chosen, and several new versions of the march were written. Finally, the preferred versions and sections were chosen and compiled in May, only 1 week before the King’s birthday.

Apart from the original music by Palmquist, there are musical references from “Holmens faste Stok”, signals from the Navy and the Army and music from “Dronning Marys Honnørmarch” The march is naturally in F major (F for Frederik) and even starts on the note F. The interval to the next note is precisely 10 notes and thereby the march starts with F and 10 (for Frederik the 10^th).

The march was premiered by The Band of The Royal Danish Life Guard at the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at the Royal Palace “Amalienborg” on the King’s birthday, Monday the 26^th of May 2025.

*Seeing as this concept is not directly known in the English-speaking world, the translation should be as literal as possible, i.e. “Salute March”. “Honnør” is “salute” in english, while the similar sounding English “honour” is “ære” in Danish.

Den danske tradition med personlige kongelige Honnørmarcher strækker sig tilbage til Kong Frederik VII, der i 1861 fik komponeret en Honnørmarch af H.C. Lumbye. Siden da har hver eneste danske Konge og Dronning haft deres egne personlige Honnørmarcher.

Hans Majestæt Kong Frederik d. X fik skrevet en Honnørmarch da han var Kronprins, men det blev besluttet efter Tronskiftet i 2024, at Kongen skulle have en ny Honnørmarch. Der blev udskrevet en marchkonkurrence og blandt de mange anonyme bidrag, blev der i februar 2025 fundet en vinder.

Vinderen var David M.A.P. Palmquist, som nu skulle tilpasse vindermarchen efter Kongens ønsker. Gennem en række møder fortalte Kongen om hvilken musik der stod som særlig betydningsfuld. En række militære signaler blev udvalgt og flere versioner blev komponeret. Endelig i maj blev de endelige dele udvalgt og samlet, kun 1 uge inden Kongens fødselsdag.

Ud over selve musikken komponeret af Palmquist, ligger der bl.a. små brudstykker af ”Holmens faste Stok”, signaler fra Søværnet, Gardehusar Regimentet og Livgarden samt citater fra ”Dronning Marys Honnørmarch”. Marchen går naturligvis i F-dur (for Frederik) og starter på tonen F. Intervallet til den næste tone er præcist 10 toner og dermed starter marchen altså med F 10 (for Frederik d. 10.).

Marchen blev uropført af Den Kongelige Livgardes Musikkorps ifm. vagtskiftet på Amalienborg til Kongens fødselsdag, mandag d. 26. maj 2025.

This edition is for Piano

This work has also been released in the following other editions:

Brass Band [Score in A4 Format & Parts in A4 Format]
Brass Band [Score in A4 Format & Parts in March Format]
Regimental Band (7. Regiments Musikkorps) [Score in A4 Format & Parts in March Format]
Wind Band [Score in A3 Format & Parts in A4 Format]
Wind Band [Score in A3 Format & Parts in March Format]