The “Chor der Dänen” is the first of three surviving pieces from the incidental music Haydn wrote for a production of John William Cowmeadow’s play Alfred, König der Angelsachsen, oder der patriotische König (“Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, or, The Patriotic King”) at Eisenstadt in September 1796. A subject such as Alfred the Great's victory over the Vikings in the year 878 would have been popular in the war-torn Europe of Haydn’s time, and the composer's thrilling setting capture's all the power and drama of the text. It is scored for a chorus of soprano, tenor and bass, and an orchestra of strings, two oboes, two bassoons, two trumpets and timpani.