Ben van den Akker Music
Ol' Tommo
Worlds collide
My friend Tommo is from the old world and the new; a drummer in the British Royal Marines and later the Royal Australian Air Force.
The inspiration for this piece was a visit to Sydney from that other new world, by Mark Reilly of the US Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps.
Composed: Ben van den Akker , 2014
Includes: Solo snare drum part
The Devil Rode to Daylesford
A fictional scene set around colonial Daylesford, composed by Ben van den Akker at Lyonville, September 2014.
This piece is very much like an Irish jig. Though written for piccolo and drums, it can be played by any combination of fifes, fiddles and drums.
Composed: Ben van den Akker , 2014
Duration: 1:10 minutes
Includes: Score, Piccolo, Tenor Drum, Bass Drum
(Optional score and parts for Fife)
When We Were Two Little Boys
An arrangement of the popular song written about two little boys who grow up to fight in a war.
Composed: Theodore F. Morse, 1902
Arranged: Ben van den Akker, 2016
Duration: 2:10 minutes
Includes:
Score, Piccolo 1, Piccolo 2, Snare Drum, Bass Drum
(Optional score and parts for Fifes)
The Emigrant
Arrangement for piccolos and drums of a song written on the eve of a lady's embarking from Leith with her relations for Van Dieman's Land.
Composed: Anonymous 1823
Arranged: Ben van den Akker 2014.
Duration: 1:05 minutes
Includes:
Score, Piccolo 1, Piccolo 2, Snare Drum, Bass Drum
(Optional score and parts for Fifes)
An Australian Hymn
Arrangement for two piccolos, two trumpets (or cornets) and drums of a hymn written in the lead up to the federation of Australia by composer, musician and writer Louis Isidore Lavater (1867-1953).
Composed: Louis Lavater c. 1899
Arranged: Ben van den Akker 2016
Duration: 3:50 minutes
Includes:
Score, Piccolo 1 & 2, Trumpet 1 & 2, Snare Drum, Bass Drum (no version for Fifes as yet)
Music for a Military Funeral
After 'Martyr's Tune,' also known as 'Lamentation of a Sinner' from the Ainsworth Psalter, 1612 AD.
In my role as a military drummer, I have played a muffled drum for many a funeral procession. This work is in honour of the many Service personnel that have passed away, some way too soon.
The psalm was also sung in church in Sydney on 5 October 1794, prior to one of the earliest executions of a convict in Australia (ref: australharmony, Dr Graeme Skinner - University of Sydney).
Composed: Ben van den Akker 2017
Duration: 5:00 minutes
Includes: Score, Piccolo 1 & 2, Trumpet 1 & 2,
French Horn 1 & 2, Muffled Drum