‘Beating the Retreat’ an event to watch

New Delhi,Jan,28:Continuing with the tradition, Indian tunes will be the flavour of the ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony this year. As many as 14 of the 27 performances have been composed by Indian musicians; just seven popular tunes by foreign musicians have been retained, interspersed five times with ‘Fanfare’, a collage by Buglers, and the ‘Drummers Call’, a traditional performance by only the  drummers.

 The ceremony at the Vijay Chowk on January 29th every year marks the culmination of the four-day-long Republic Day celebrations. A total of 39 Bands from the three Services will perform at the ceremony. Out of these, 14 are Military Bands, while 17are of Pipes and Drums. Navy and Air Force will be represented by eight Bands.

The arrival of the President will be sounded by Fanfare comprising of 14 Trumpeters, 32 Buglers and 14 Echo Buglers, placed strategically along the North & South Blocks, Vayu and Rail Bhawans.

This will be followed by playing of the tune of National Anthem and a tune ‘Parameshwar’, composed by Captain Mahendra Das NK.

Thereafter, Army’s Massed Pipes and Drums Bands will play a total of six tunes, - ‘General Tappy’, a quickmarch tune, ‘Chipli Naach’, a slow march tune, ‘The Hundred Pipers’, a quick march tune, ‘Louden’s Bonnie Woods & Brass’, a strathspey tune, ‘The High road to Linton’, a reel tune and ‘Queen of Hill’, a quick march tune.

After these tunes, Air Force and Navy will play six tunes. Everest, Skylark, Rhythm of the Waves, Twilight, Renaissance and Sea Patrol.

This will be followed by the massed military bands of the Indian Army playing ‘Nakhreli Joban, Almora, Sarangi, Post Horn Gallop and Redetzky March’.  Thereafter, all the massed military bands will play the ‘Vijayee Himalaya’, after Pipe & Drums Band play ‘Drummer Call’. After that will be played ‘Abide with Me’, the eternally enchanting hymn, a favourite tune of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.  The Buglers will retreat to the sound of ‘Sare Jahan se Achha’, penned by Iqbal, and arranged by Prof A. Lobo, before the illuminations.

‘Beating the Retreat’ has emerged as an event of national pride when the Colours and Standards are paraded. The ceremony traces its origins to the early 1950s when Major Roberts of the Indian Army indigenously developed the unique ceremony of display by the massed bands. ‘Beating Retreat’ marks a centuries old military tradition, when the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms and withdrew from the battlefield and returned to the camps at sunset at the sounding of the Retreat. Colours and Standards are cased and flags lowered. The ceremony creates a nostalgia for the times gone by.