The original version of Taps was called Last Post, and was written by Daniel Butterfield in 1801. It was rather lengthy and formal, as you will hear in this clip, so in 1862 it was shortened to 24 notes and re-named Taps.
Melissa Venema is playing it on a trumpet whereby the original was played on a bugle.
Thank you for such a wonderful presentation! I will share it.
My father's beat up old bugle from his days at the CCC camps hangs for my mantle. His mother, my grandmother, refused to let my father play Taps in the house at family gatherings, perhaps because of her experience during the two great wars when she lost friends and saw how it affected the boys coming home (she was an avid reader). I have heard Dad play Taps several times. Hearing Taps, unlike Reveille, always makes me feel sad. Neither I nor any of my brothers can play the bugle.
My father's beat up old bugle from his days at the CCC camps hangs for my mantle. His mother, my grandmother, refused to let my father play Taps in the house at family gatherings, perhaps because of her experience during the two great wars when she lost friends and saw how it affected the boys coming home (she was an avid reader). I have heard Dad play Taps several times. Hearing Taps, unlike Reveille, always makes me feel sad. Neither I nor any of my brothers can play the bugle.
Ron