Hejnal mariacki

The title of this article is incorrect because of technical limitations. The correct title is Hejnał mariacki.

Hejnał mariacki ( listen) is a traditional Polish melody, closely tied to the history and traditions of the city of Kraków. The melody is played by a trumpeter four times every hour from the higher of the towers of St. Mary's Church of Kraków.

History

Origins

The original melody dates back probably to Middle Ages. It was played by the city guards at dawn and dusk to announce the closing and opening of the city gates. The word hejnał itself comes from Hungarian word hejnal meaning dawn. In addition, the melody was used to signal fires and other dangers.

According to Polish tradition, in 1257, during the Mongol invasion, a group of Tatar warriors were approaching the city. One of the city guards sounded the alarm by playing the melody of the hejnał and the city gates were closed before the Tatars could take the city by surprise. However, the bugler was shot in the throat while playing the tune and did not finish it. That is why the current melody ends so rapidly. As an interesting sidenote, the full version of the melody is not known.

Later usage

The tune was played in its shortened, more dramatic version ever since. Since February 13, 1838, it was also played at noon. The exact time was measured by the Kraków Astronomical Observatory. In 1920's the signal from the Kraków Observatory was broadcasted over the Polish Radio and served for regulation of watches throughout the country. Ever since the noon is announced by a series of six short beeps and one long beep at the end. After that the melody of the hejnał is broadcasted. Eventhough the time signal is currently broadcasted from Warsaw, it is still followed by the sound of the hejnał from Kraków. Because of that, it is one of the best-known Polish melodies.

As such, the hejnał accompanied many important moments in Polish history. For instance, during World War II, on May 18, 1944, a bugler from the 2nd Polish Corps played the tune to announce the Polish victory in the Battle of Monte Cassino. On June 11, 2000, the melody was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, after it was played by almost 2000 trumpeters from all over the world. Among them were military orchestras from Poland, UK, Belgium and Spain, as well as civilians. The youngest of the buglers was barely 8 years old and the oldest – 79.

Since late 19th century the hejnał is performed by professional firefighters, who were also using the church tower as a lookout post. The melody is played four times an hour in four different directions: towards the Wawel Castle (southwards, for the King), towards the City Hall (westwards, for the Mayor), towards Barbican (northwards, for the guests) and towards the Little Marketplace square (eastwards, for the Firefighters HQ). Currently there are at least four different buglers serving at the tower. Since the trumpeter has to climb 239 steps, the rotation of trumpeters is quite fast. An exception from that rule is the famous Kołton family, which has been playing the hejnał for three generations now. In October of 2004 Jan Kołton retired after 33 years of service at the tower. His father was a hejnał bugler for 35 years before him and the tradition is continued by his son.

See also

• St. Mary's Church, Kraków
• Kraków