The Last Post

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A recording from "The Last Post"
Sheet music view of "The Last Post"
The Menenpoort (Memorial Gate) in Ypres for the fallen of the Commonwealth

The Last Post is a military horn signal played primarily in the UK and the Commonwealth of Nations.

The signal "The Last Post" is usually used at military funerals or other ceremonies to commemorate the Commonwealth soldiers who died in the war. Usually it is played by trumpeters of the British infantry or with cavalry trombones of the British cavalry regiments (today mostly motorized armored troops) or by horns of the British artillery (Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Artillery).

Even if there is no evidence for this, it is assumed that Joseph Haydn composed “The Last Post” or at least accompanied the creation of it. Haydn lived and worked in London when under the reign of King George III. towards the end of the 18th century the decision was made to standardize the horn signals throughout the British army and fleet. Haydn is unlikely to have escaped this decision and, if only because of his outstanding position at court, he must have been involved in it. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that some horn signals such as " Reveille " and "First Post" are musically very complex. In addition, musical phrases from various regimental traditions were very skillfully adopted and put together during the composition.

Trivia

  • In Ypres , since May 1, 1928, “The Last Post” has been played every day at 8:00 p.m. in front of the Menenpoort (memorial gate) built by the British in 1927 . This tradition commemorates the fallen of the Commonwealth in World War I and was only interrupted during the Second World War. From May 20, 1940 to September 6, 1944, the ceremony was moved to Brookwood Cemetery , England . On July 9, 2015, “The Last Post” was played under the arches for the 30,000th time.
    Inside the gate are the names of 54,896 missing people from the four battles of Flanders .
  • On ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand, "The Last Post" is traditionally played after the minute of silence.

Web links

Commons : Last Post  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files