Military bands ready with 20 new tunes for Beating the Retreat

New tunes composed by Indian musicians will feature prominently at the 'Beating the Retreat' ceremony tomorrow which marks the culmination of the four-day-long Republic Day celebrations.
As many as 20 of the 23 performances lined up for the event this time have been composed by Indian musicians compared to last year's 18.
Fifteen military bands and 18 pipes and drums bands from regimental centres and battalions are participating in the ceremony. Besides, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, too, will have a band each performing at the event.
The principal conductor for the ceremony will be Major Girish Kumar U while the military bands will be led by Subedar Suresh Kumar. The conductor for the Navy and Air Force bands will be Master Chief Petty Officer (Musician-I) Ramesh Chand.

Buglers will perform under the leadership of Subedar Prabhakaran and pipes and drums bands will play under the instructions of Subedar Mitter Dev.
'Beating the Retreat' 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.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Parliament House, the North and South Blocks and the other official buildings in and around Raisina Hill have been splendidly lit up on the eve of the occasion.