Jan Stoeckart (3 November 1927 – 13 January 2017) was a Dutch composer, conductor, trombonist and former radio producer, who often worked under various pseudonyms such as Willy Faust, Peter Milray, Julius Steffaro and Jack Trombey. In the UK he is best known for his composition ''
Eye Level
"Eye Level" is a 1972 single by the Simon Park Orchestra. It was produced originally for the De Wolfe Music Library and selected by Thames Television to be the theme tune for their Netherlands-based detective series ''Van der Valk (TV series), Van ...
'', the theme tune to the
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
series ''
Van der Valk
''Van der Valk'' is a British television crime drama series produced for the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The first series ran from 1972 to 1992; followed by a remake in 2020. Created by Nicolas Freeling and based on his novels about a dete ...
'', which was a number one on the UK singles chart in 1973. He also composed "Homeward Bound", a theme from the film ''
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)'', under the pseudonym Jack Trombey.
Life and works
Stoeckart was born in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
. He took piano and trombone lessons from the age of 12. After graduating from the
Amsterdam Conservatory
The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam ...
in 1950, he began his career as a professional musician (trombone and double bass) and conductor in various Dutch orchestras, including orchestras operated by Dutch public broadcaster
NOS.
In 1974, he moved on to become a freelance composer for NOS and other Dutch public broadcasters. He also worked as a music producer for various radio shows, with which he popularised brass and choral music. He also continued to compose and arrange music for Dutch films and for brass bands. He worked with the
Metropole Orchestra
The Metropole Orkest (Metropole Orchestra) is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Com ...
and the
Dutch Promenade Orchestra.
In the early 1960s, his conductor Hugo de Groot took him to London music publisher
De Wolfe Music Ltd, where he signed a contract to compose stock and library music. He did so under various guises, such as Wily Faust, Jack Trombey and Peter Milray. He composed approximately 1200-1300 works for De Wolfe.
He died on 13 January 2017, in
Hilversum, at the age of 89.
Theme tunes
Eye Level
His biggest success proved to be ''
Eye Level
"Eye Level" is a 1972 single by the Simon Park Orchestra. It was produced originally for the De Wolfe Music Library and selected by Thames Television to be the theme tune for their Netherlands-based detective series ''Van der Valk (TV series), Van ...
'', the theme tune to the
Van der Valk
''Van der Valk'' is a British television crime drama series produced for the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The first series ran from 1972 to 1992; followed by a remake in 2020. Created by Nicolas Freeling and based on his novels about a dete ...
TV series from the early 1970s.
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
had picked the tune, which Stoeckart had written a few years earlier, from the De Wolfe catalogue. The tune, loosely based on a German/Dutch nursery rhyme called 'Jan Hinnerk' in German, and 'Catootje' in Dutch, from the 18th century, became an instant hit with viewers and record buyers, as the recording - made by the
Simon Park Orchestra - climbed to number one on the UK singles chart in 1973. The original title of the melody was 'Amsterdam'. 'Eye Level' refers to the ever-present horizon in the Low Countries, which is always "at eye level to the beholder".
Others
* ''Girl in the dark'' (as Jack Trombey for the De Wolfe catalogue) used for the UK TV espionage series ''
Callan
Callan is a given name and surname of Irish and Scottish origin. It can derive from Ó Cathaláin, meaning ''descendant of Cathalán''. Callan can also be an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Allin or Mac Callin. Notable people with the name includ ...
''
* ''
Floris'' - the popular Dutch TV series set in medieval times (1969)
* ''
Het Simplisties Verbond'' ("The Simplistic Association") - Dutch satirical TV show
* ''Domino'' - the ITV sitcom
Never the Twain
''Never the Twain'' is a British sitcom that ran for eleven series from 7 September 1981 to 9 October 1991.
It was created by Johnnie Mortimer, and was the only sitcom he ever created without his usual writing partner, Brian Cooke. Mortimer w ...
* ''Trombones On Parade'' - ITV's
Junior Showtime
''Junior Showtime'' was a British variety show for children made by Yorkshire Television and shown on ITV between 1969 and 1974. The series' executive producer was Jess Yates. Jeff Evans ''The Penguin TV Companion'', London: Penguin, 2006, p. 4 ...
.
* ''Horizontal Hold'' (as Jack Trombey for the De Wolfe catalogue) used by NFL Films and as the theme for
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...
' ''
The NFL Today
''The NFL Today'' is an American football television program on CBS that serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL) game telecasts under the ''NFL on CBS'' brand. The program features commentary on the latest ne ...
'' pre game show from the mid-1970s to the early-1980s. CBS later used alternate arrangements of the song from the mid-1980s to late-1990s.
* ''Pancho'' - used by the Italian network
RAI
RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...
as the theme for "
90° Minuto" (90th minute), a show dedicated to
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
highlights
* ''Dusk'' - (as Jack Trombey for the De Wolfe catalogue) Dusk is part of Firaxis Games's
Civilization V
''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X video game in the ''Civilization'' series developed by Firaxis Games. The game was released on Microsoft Windows on September 21, 2010, on OS X on November 23, 2010, and on Linux on June 10, 2014.
In ...
(2010).
* ‘’Project in Operation’’ used by Australian television Production Company, Crawfords, for the television Series
Matlock Police
''Matlock Police'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the 0-10 Network (now known as the 10 Network) between 1971 and 1976. The series focused on the police station and crime in the Victorian town o ...
(1971–76), (as Jack Trombey for the De Wolfe catalogue)
* ‘’Shoeshine‘’ - used by
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
TVB
Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...
sitcom "Hong Kong 81-86" series from 1981 to 1986.
* Hot Spot recorded in 1971 by Jack Trombey, and used for
production logo
A production logo, vanity card, vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by movie studios and television production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company and the distributor of a television show or film ...
.
Musicals
* ''
Sinterklaas
Sinterklaas () or Sint-Nicolaas () is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other Dutch names for the figure include ''De Sint'' ("The Saint"), ''De Goede Sint'' ("The Good Saint") and ''De Goedheiligman'' ("The ...
'' based on the Dutch version of Santa Claus.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoeckart, Jan
1927 births
2017 deaths
Dutch trombonists
Dutch composers
Dutch conductors (music)
Male conductors (music)
Conservatorium van Amsterdam alumni
Musicians from Amsterdam