US trumpeter plays Kraków bugle call
Czwórka
Roberto Galea
30.10.2015 09:07
The world-famous American jazz trumpeter Chris Botti performed the bugle call from the tower of St Mary’s Church in Kraków on Thursday.
The bugle caller in Kraków. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
He is billed in the city today as part of his European concert tour.
In response to his wish to do something extraordinary while in Kraków, the organisers of the tour suggested the bugle call.
Chris Botti readily agreed and climbed the 271 steps to the top of the church tower and, having first listened to the trumpeter on duty, he played the tune twice, solo and together with the Pole.
It is Botti's third visit to Kraków. Talking to a Radio Poland reporter in the town, he described it as the most beautiful city in the world.
The bugle call is inseparably linked with Kraków – Poland’s former capital.
Its first written accounts come from 1392. It consists of a simple melody of open chords, which is cut short in the middle of the final cadence because it commemorates the trumpeter who, whilst raising the alarm, was shot through the throat by an arrow shot by of the Mongol attackers.
It is played every hour on the hour and is repeated four times: to the north, south, east and west.
On Saturday, 31 October, Chris Botti performs in Warsaw. (mk/rg/rk)