"The Trumpeter" is a 1904 song with music by J. Airlie Dix (d.1911) and lyrics by J. Francis Barron (1870-1940) which became a widely popular before, during and after World War I.[1] Also known by the song's opening line and refrain "Trumpeter, what are you sounding now?", it was recorded with full orchestral arrangement by various artists including Peter Dawson and John McCormack.
- ^ Brian Murdoch Fighting Songs and Warring Words: Popular Lyrics of Two World Wars 2002 1134969058 -"One example is 'The Trumpeter', written in 1904 by J.Francis Barron and J. Airlie Dix. It achieved perhaps its greatest popularity in performance and recordings during the war, though it remained known in a version by Peter Dawson after the war. It may be considered in the light of a wartime recording, in which it was given a quasi-natural context by Raymond Newell and Ian Swinley.24 Their recording opens with a conversation before battle, behind which the bugle call motif of the music ....."