At The Last Trumpet

On Remembrance Day trumpet players are often out in force playing last posts across the land, indeed the whole weekend can be busy with various requiem masses being performed to honour the dead. The trumpet has such a military history that most composers use a few in any piece about war. In Karl Jenkins The Armed Man, a very popular choral work, the last post is quoted extensively and any military Hollywood Blockbuster inevitably starts with a solo trumpet.

I started young with last posts, my trumpet teacher arranged for me to perform it at a local church in Repton, Derbyshire when I was about 13. I was excited to be playing because it was such a big responsibility. It went well and the next year the local vicars decided to stagger the times of the 2 minutes silence so that my dad could drive me from church to church and I could play for several services.

This year I played it by the war memorial in a church in Hampstead it is always sad and yesterday I was really struck by a man and his grandson. The man was crying and the boy was looking up at him. When I got home I watched the army musicians playing it and than the procession. It is quite a sight and the musicians sounded incredible. A huge massed band playing in the cold for hours, standing asolutely still in fingerless gloves and with plastic mouthpieces to stop the metal freezing your lips. I have had several colleagues enter the army after a studying at Music College and several leave it to embark on successful careers in the business. I was so impressed yesterday by the musical skill they showed.

A few months ago the last post made the news, it seems there is a shortage of trumpeters available to play at funerals and other services. To help they introduced an electronic bugle that could be mimed by a service man. It has actually been in operation since 2003 and all the ‘player’ need do is press a button and look convincing.
This isn’t the case in Belgium where at Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres the local volunteer fire brigade learnt to play the bugle as a way of honouring the fallen who liberated their town. Since the 11th November 1929 the last post has sounded every single night in all weathers.