“Taps" “Taps,” As We Currently Know It, Came About in 1862. Composed
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Newsletter 8 May 25 The History of “Taps" “Taps,” as we currently know it, came about in 1862. Composed right after the Seven Days Battles, a bloody battle that waged for a week in the summer of 1862, the song was intended to mourn the fallen. The two armies, led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Union Major General George B. McClellan, suffered over 36,000 casualties combined. While the Union Army was driven back down the Virginia Peninsula with Lee’s army continuing on toward Maryland, those who survived would not call either side victorious. One woman who witnessed the aftermath wrote, “Death held a carnival in our city.” After the shock of that battle, the Army of the Potomac was camped at Harrison’s Landing on the James River in Virginia, resting and recuperating, when Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield summoned Private Oliver Willcox Gordon, the brigade bugler, to his tent. Butterfield expressed not liking the bugle call used for Lights Out, because he thought it was too formal. According to Private Gordon, “During the early part of the Civil War I was bugler at the Headquarters of Butterfield’s Brigade, Meroll’s Division, Fitz-John Porter’s Corp, Army of the Potomac. Up to July, 1862, the Infantry call for Taps was that set down in Casey’s Tactics, which Mr. Kobbe says was borrowed from the French. One day, soon after the seven days battles on the Peninsular, when the Army of the Potomac was lying in camp at Harrison’s Landing, General Daniel Butterfield, then commanding our Brigade, sent for me, and showing me some notes on a staff written in pencil on the back of an envelope, asked me to sound them on my bugle. I did this several times, playing the music as written. He changed it somewhat, lengthening some notes and shortening others, but retaining ©ActivityConnection.com – The History of “Taps” – Page 2 of 3 the melody as he first gave it to me. After getting it to his satisfaction, he directed me to sound that call for Taps thereafter in place of the regulation call. The music was beautiful on that still summer night, and was heard far beyond the limits of our Brigade. The next day I was visited by several buglers from neighboring Brigades, asking for copies of the music which I gladly furnished. I think no general order was issued from army headquarters authorizing the substitution of this for the regulation call, but as each brigade commander exercised his own discretion in such minor matters, the call was gradually taken up through the Army of the Potomac.” Printed in an 1898 interview for Century Magazine, this account was supported by Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield, who clarified that he did not read music, but that he called someone in who did, whistling the tune for them, while they wrote it in musical notation on the back of the envelope. He then called bugler Gordon in and made further adjustments. Butterfield’s “Taps” soon became the Army standard for Lights Out as well as military funerals. It was first used at a funeral in 1862. The funeral, being held for a soldier, was close to enemy lines, and the traditional three shots could not be fired, because it would give away their position. Instead, Butterfield’s “Taps” was played. At John F. Kennedy’s funeral, the bugler missed the sixth note because of the cold weather. That missed note, which sounded like a sob to many, became a symbol of the nation’s sorrow for the loss of their president. You can hear it here, starting at 2:20. Discussion Play this version of Lights Out. 1. This version of Lights Out came from the French and is still used as their Lights Out call. Do you agree with Butterfield that this version is more formal than the current “Taps”? 2. Which version do you prefer? A Question of Origins The above story of “Taps,” is the one that is most widely known. But it isn’t the complete story. Butterfield likely did not compose this tune from scratch. Although he could play the bugle, because, he said, it was a necessary skill for any officer commanding a regiment or brigade, he was not a musician. While he had composed simple calls for his brigade in the past, including ones to march forward in battle, to halt, to lie down, etc., he had not created anything more complicated. According to Master Sergeant Jari Villanueva, USAF, who researched the use of “Taps,” it is likely that Butterfield revised an earlier bugle call, “The Scott Tattoo,” which was in use in the mid-1800s. The French Lights Out began to be used just before the Civil War. It is probable that Butterfield, consciously or unconsciously, remembered “The Scott Tattoo” version. Although Butterfield may have been influenced by “The Scott Tattoo,” the changes he made created a unique and haunting composition that still resonates with people a century and a half later. Humbly never making a claim to have composed an original tune, he nonetheless deserves credit for bringing us one of the world’s most recognizable tunes. Taps" is one of the most recognized songs across the world. Played for American military Lights Out and funerals, the song is composed of only 24 notes. May 26 Miles Davis Birth Anniversary Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th- century music. Davis adopted a variety of musical directions in a five- decade career that kept him at the forefront of many major stylistic developments in jazz.[1] Born in Alton, Illinois, and raised in East St. Louis, Davis left to study at the Juilliard School in New York City, before dropping out and making his professional debut as a member of saxophonist Charlie Parker's bebop quintet from 1944 to 1948. Shortly after, he recorded the Birth of the Cool sessions for Capitol Records, which were instrumental to the development of cool jazz. In the early 1950s, Miles Davis recorded some of the earliest hard bop music while on Prestige Records but did so haphazardly due to a heroin addiction. After a widely acclaimed comeback performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955, he signed a long-term contract with Columbia Records and recorded the 1957 album 'Round About Midnight.[2] It was his first work with saxophonist John Coltrane and bassist Paul Chambers, key members of the sextet he led into the early 1960s. During this period, he alternated between orchestral jazz collaborations with arranger Gil Evans, such as the Spanish- influenced Sketches of Spain (1960), and band recordings, such as Milestones (1958) and Kind of Blue (1959).[3] The latter recording remains one of the most popular jazz albums of all time,[4] having sold over five million copies in the U.S. Davis made several lineup changes while recording Someday My Prince Will Come (1961), his 1961 Blackhawk concerts, and Seven Steps to Heaven (1963), another mainstream success that introduced bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock, and drummer Tony Williams.[3] After adding saxophonist Wayne Shorter to his new quintet in 1964,[3] Davis led them on a series of more abstract recordings often composed by the band members, helping pioneer the post-bop genre with albums such as E.S.P (1965) and Miles Smiles (1967),[5] before transitioning into his electric period. During the 1970s, he experimented with rock, funk, African rhythms, emerging electronic music technology, and an ever-changing line- up of musicians, including keyboardist Joe Zawinul, drummer Al Foster, and guitarist John McLaughlin.[6] This period, beginning with Davis' 1969 studio album In a Silent Way and concluding with the 1975 concert recording Agharta, was the most controversial in his career, alienating and challenging many in jazz.[7] His million-selling 1970 record Bitches Brew helped spark a resurgence in the genre's commercial popularity with jazz fusion as the decade progressed.[8] After a five-year retirement due to poor health, Davis resumed his career in the 1980s, employing younger musicians and pop sounds on albums such as The Man with the Horn (1981) and Tutu (1986). Critics were generally unreceptive but the decade garnered the trumpeter his highest level of commercial recognition. He performed sold-out concerts worldwide, while branching out into visual arts, film, and television work, before his death in 1991 from the combined effects of a stroke, pneumonia and respiratory failure.[9] In 2006, Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,[10] which recognized him as "one of the key figures in the history of jazz."[10] Rolling Stone described him as "the most revered jazz trumpeter of all time, not to mention one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Davis May 27 National Senior Health and Fitness Day Annually it is the last Wednesday in May. As part of Older Americans Month, seniors across the country are involved in locally organized health promotion activities. Check out all of our workout classes on You tube and our senior center facebook page. Staying in shape is good for your mind and body. Have fun and stay healthy! Little Rhody Day May 29 The colony of Rhode Island began in 1636 when clergyman Roger Williams was exiled from Massachusetts Bay. The Puritans disagreed with Williams's religious views. He named his new settlement "Providence," claiming providence had brought him there.