Two bugle-calls

Today we do not know the sound of the melodies of municipal bugle-calls or the melodies played in case of danger by the bugler – guard from the Town Hall Tower.

In the latest history Świdnica managed to preserve two bugle-calls which however never resounded from the Town Hall Tower.

One of the first bugle-calls came into existence in 1960 and was composed by Bolesław Janczarski, musician and teacher in the 3^rd Pedagogical Secondary School and National Music School. The competition for Świdnica's bugle-call was offered by the town's authorities and it was the composition of Bolesław Janczarski that won. Unfortunately, officially it was played only three times – during competition's presentation, on the occasion of the unveiling of monument of the 1000^th anniversary of Poland (1966) and during Świdnica's Days (1972). But for the family of Bolesław Janczarski, who managed to preserve the notation of this bugle-call, nobody would probably remember the sound of the bugle-call's melody.

Forty years later the town's authorities came back to the bugle-call issue. In 2000 a competition for Świdnica's bugle-call was offered again and once again it was won by the musician and composer from Świdnica – Marek Banaszczyk. A resolution to establish a bugle-call was adopted on the 29^th June 2000. New bugle-call is a composition for trumpet and lasts 20 seconds. The Świdnica's bugle-call can be heard four times a day – 10 a.m., 12 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Nevertheless, the bugler is no longer performing his function and the composition is reproduced from loudspeakers placed on the roof of Mid-Market block.

Source: Violetta Mazurek „Świdnicki hejnał odnaleziony”, „Wiadomości Świdnickie” no. 4/1994, Andrzej Dobkiewicz – information from private archives.