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.
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Composed: Ben van den Akker , 2014
Includes: Solo snare drum part
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The Devil Rode to Daylesford
A fictional scene set around colonial Daylesford, composed by Ben van den Akker at Lyonville, September 2014.
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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)
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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.
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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)
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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)
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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)
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Music for a Military Funeral
After 'Martyr's Tune,' also known as 'Lamentation of a Sinner' from the Ainsworth Psalter, 1612 AD.
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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.
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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).
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Composed: Ben van den Akker 2017
Duration: 5:00 minutes
Includes: Score, Piccolo 1 & 2, Trumpet 1 & 2,
French Horn 1 & 2, Muffled Drum
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