Education
Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
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January Stoeckart
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In the United Kingdom he is best known for his composition Eye Level, the theme tune to the Independent Television series Van der Valk, which was a number one on the United Kingdom singles chart in 1973. He also composed "Homeward Bound", best known as King Arthur"s heroic theme from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), under the pseudonym Jack Trombey. January Stoeckart took piano and trombone lessons from the age of 12.
After graduating from the Amsterdam Conservatory 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 and the Dutch Promenade Orchestra. In the early 1960s, his conductor Hugo de Groot took him to London music publisher De Wolfe Music Limited., 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. Eye Level
His biggest success proved to be Eye Level, the theme tune to the Van der Valk television series from the early 1970s. Independent Television 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 "January 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 United Kingdom 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 United Kingdom television espionage series Callan
Floris - the popular Dutch television series set in medieval times (1969)
Het Simplisties Verbond ("The Simplistic Association") - Dutch satirical television show
Domino - the Independent Television sitcom Never the Twain
Trombones On Parade - Independent Television"s Junior Showtime. Horizontal Hold (as Jack Trombey for the De Wolfe catalogue) used by NFL Films and as the theme for Columbia Broadcasting System Sports" The NFL Today pre game show from the mid-1970s to the early-1980s.
Columbia Broadcasting System later used alternate arrangements of the song from the mid-1980s to late-1990s.
Sinterklaas based on the Dutch version of Santa Claus.
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Born
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Nationality
Netherlands