![]() It's made out of copper, has a brass garland out of it that surrounds the bell and it's an instrument that was used by the military buglers of the Civil War. VILLANUEVA: Yes, I'm playing it on a vintage instrument that comes from the 1860s. And you're playing it on a beautiful instrument. I always want to cry every time I hear it. VILLANUEVA: Yes, here is "Taps." There's 24 notes. KEYES: Can you play us "Taps" as we know it now? So he decided that he would revise that bugle call. General Daniel Butterfield thought that that particular call was just a little too formal-sounding to end the day. KEYES: But the gentleman that eventually composed "Taps" had an issue with that music, didn't he? And it was the call that would be sounded at, like I said, at the end of the day to tell the soldiers to put out the lights, extinguish the lights and go to sleep. And interestingly enough, it was Napoleon's favorite bugle call. VILLANUEVA: And the call that I just played came from the French. It's the call that was replaced by "Taps." KEYES: So that's the call that inspired "Taps" in the first place. And it was the call prior to the Civil War that would tell soldiers to put out the lights and go to sleep. It's called "Extinguish Lights" and it's found in the early manuals. This is a bugle call that was used during the Civil War. We're going to talk a bit about the history of "Taps." But, first, would you honor us with a performance? ![]() It's my honor to do over 300 military funerals a month for our Maryland veterans. JARI VILLANUEVA: Thank you for having me. He's now director of the Maryland National Honor Guard. With us now in the studio is Jari Villanueva, who played "Taps" at military funerals at Arlington Cemetery for 23 years. ![]() My next guest is a "Taps" historian and a retired trumpeter for the United States Air Force Band. "Taps" started out as a military signal for soldiers to turn out the lights and go to bed. That's in a bit.īut, first, the bugle call played at military funerals is ingrained in American culture as the music of mourning, but it wasn't always that way. Michel Martin is away.Ĭoming up, the weekly Can I Just Tell You commentary. ALLISON KEYES, host: I'm Allison Keyes and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News.
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