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Lumbye began his career in the 1820s as a violinist and trumpeteer. In 1839, he heard a Viennese orchestra play music by Johann Strauss I, after which he composed in the style of Strauss, eventually earning the nickname "The Strauss of the North". From 1843 to 1872, he served as the music director and in-house composer for Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen.
Lumbye is best known for his light compositions, many of which evoke non-musical sources. The Champagne Galop, for example, begins with the "POP" of a champagne cork, and the Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop faithfully recreates the sounds of a train chugging out of a station and grinding to a halt at the next stop.