Rotterdam Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy | |
---|---|
Active | 1945 |
Country | Netherlands |
Branch | Royal Netherlands Navy |
Type | Military Band |
Size | 53 |
Part of | Netherlands Marine Corps |
Garrison/HQ | Rotterdam |
Anniversaries | 1 August |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Major Arjan Tien (since March 2017) |
The Rotterdam Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy, also referred to as the Band of the Korps Mariniers or simply the Dutch Marine Band (Dutch : Marinierskapel der Koninklijke Marine) is the Royal Netherlands Navy's official musical unit. Like Britain's Royal Marines Band Service it is the representative band of the entire navy despite being a reporting unit of the Korps Mariners, as sub-branch in the Dutch Armed Forces. [1] [2] Based in the port city of Rotterdam, the band was founded on 1 August 1945 as a continuation of the pre-war Regimental Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy. [3]
The regimental band was established in 1864 by order of William III, the then King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. When the Korps Mariner was founded in 1665, special drummer units had been attached to marine battalions, with the sole purpose of indicating the rhythm while marching. Around 1699, fifes were also added, which would give the entire unit a resemblance to a British Corps of Drums. During its 1864 establishment, the corps of drums was expanded to become a full wind band. It was dissolved in 1940 due to the involvement of the Netherlands in World War II and the Battle of the Netherlands.
Today, it supports all marine and national events, including Koningsdag, Prinsjesdag, Veteranendag and Dutch Armed Forces Day as well as service days for the marines such as 10 December and 1 August. The band has also performed alongside other military bands representing the naval infantry of other countries, performing with the Royal Marines Band Service and the 2nd Marine Division Band (United States Marine Corps) on Horse Guards Parade during the 2014 Beating Retreat. [4] It has also performed several times in Russia touring to St. Petersburg in 1997 and 2003 (the former being in honor of the as part of the celebrations of 300th anniversary of Peter the Great) and the 2013 Spasskaya Tower Military Music Festival and Tattoo. During its visits to Russia, it has also performed with the Central Navy Band of Russia. [5] It has also performed with units such as the United States Marine Band, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Band and the United States Navy Band. [6]
The Band, modeled more on the bands of the Royal Marines Band Service, is organized into the main Marching Band and the world-famous Corps of Drums (Tamboers en Pijpers), playing snare drums and fifes. The band is led by the Director of Music, assisted by the Bandmaster and the Drum Major, who leads both formations. The DM also serves as the commander of the Corps of Drums. By tradition, he or she must be a percussionist drummer, either of the band or the Corps of Drums. In concert formation, the marching band is transformed into a Concert Band.
In addition, smaller ensembles can also be formed from the band, such as the following:
The repertoire of the band includes but is not limited to the following foreign and domestic pieces:
The following people have served as director of the band: [3]
The Netherlands Armed Forces are the military services of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The core of the armed forces consists of the four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Royal Netherlands Army, the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. The service branches are supplemented by various joint support organisations. In addition, local conscript forces exist on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba (AruMil) and Curaçao (CurMil). These operate under the auspices of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Netherlands Marine Corps. The armed forces are organisationally part of the Ministry of Defence.
The Royal Netherlands Navy is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is one of the four Netherlands Armed Forces. It was founded on 8 January 1488, making it the third oldest naval force in the world.
Defense on Aruba is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands Military forces that protect Aruba include the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Netherlands Marine Corps and the Netherlands Coastguard. There is also a small indigenous "Arubaanse Militie" of about platoon strength, and a shared Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard consisting of three Damen Stan 4100 patrol boats.
A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Music director. Ottoman military bands are thought to be the oldest variety of military marching bands in the world, dating from the 13th century.
The Netherlands Marine Corps is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy, one of the four Armed Forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The marines trace their origins to the establishment of the Regiment de Marine on 10 December 1665, by the then grand pensionary of the Dutch Republic, Johan de Witt and famous Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. It is the second-oldest still-active marine corps in the world.
M-Squadron, formerly the Unit Interventie Mariniers, and before that known as the Bijzondere Bijstandseenheid, is an elite Dutch special forces unit which is tasked with conducting domestic counter-terrorist operations. M-Squadron is part of the Netherlands Maritime Special Operations Forces of the Netherlands Marine Corps.
A fife and drum corps is a musical ensemble consisting of fifes and drums. In the United States of America, fife and drum corps specializing in colonial period impressions using fifes, rope tension snare drums, and (sometimes) rope tension bass drums are known as Ancient Fife and Drum Corps. Many of these ensembles originated from a type of military field music.
Beating Retreat is a military ceremony dating to 17th-century England and was first used to recall nearby patrolling units to their castle.
United States military bands include musical ensembles maintained by the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, United States Air Force, and United States Coast Guard. More broadly, they can also include musical ensembles of other federal and state uniformed services, including the Public Health Service and NOAA Corps, the state defense forces, and the senior military colleges.
An exchange officer is a commissioned officer in a country's armed forces who is temporarily seconded either to a unit of the armed forces of another country or to another branch of the armed forces of their own country.
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship, the boarding of vessels during combat or capture of prize ships, and providing manpower for raiding ashore in support of the naval objectives. In most countries, the marines are an integral part of that state's navy.
The Royal Military Academy is the service academy for the Dutch Army, the Dutch Air Force and the Royal Marechaussee. Located in Breda, Southern Netherlands, the KMA has trained future officers since 1828.
The Royal Marines Band Service is the musical wing of the Royal Navy and an independent element of the Royal Marines. It currently consists of five bands plus a training wing – the Royal Marines School of Music at HMS Nelson – and its headquarters is at HMS Excellent, Whale Island, Portsmouth.
A Corps of Drums, sometimes known as a Fife and Drum Corps, Fifes and Drums or Field Music is a traditional European military music formation. In contrast to a military band, a Corps of Drums' primary role is communication. Historically, music was used as signaling device throughout the day for keeping marching tempo and delivering commands. Today, the primary role of a Corps of Drums is ceremonial, performing in parades and military ceremonies. Besides drums, this formation may contain a variety of instruments including trumpets, bugles, and fifes.
A fanfare band, fanfare corps, fanfare battery, fanfare team, horn and drum corps, bugle band, drum and bugle corps, or trumpet and drum band is a military or civilian musical ensemble composed of percussion instruments, bugles, natural horns and natural trumpets. Fanfare bands are the descendants of the old medieval trumpet and drum teams that sounded fanfares on important occasions and are related to drum and bugle corps internationally.
A drum major in the military is the individual leading a military band or a field unit. It is an appointment, not a military rank. Military drum majors utilize a ceremonial mace for giving commands while marching. Many drum majors, particularly American- or British-influenced ones, wear a sash that can carry embroidered badges of their home unit and battle honors; a pair of ceremonial drum sticks are often attached.
The Fanfare Band of the Royal Marechaussee is a 60-member fanfare band which serves as the official ensemble of the Dutch Royal Marechaussee. It is currently led by Captain Peter Kleine Schaars. It is currently based in Apeldoorn. Being a professional military band representing a service branch of the Dutch Armed Forces, it consists of many different ensembles, including a saxophone quartet, and a percussion section. Also, it maintains a drum and bugle corps component.
Charles Stewart Ashworth was Drum Major of the United States Marine Band in the early 1800s and the author of an influential rudimental drum manual.
The Netherlands Maritime Special Operations Forces is the special forces unit of the Marine Corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy. It is one of the three principal units tasked with special operations in the Netherlands. The unit can be deployed worldwide to conduct special operations, including counter-terrorism both overseas and domestically, with a maritime focus. Its operations are planned and coordinated by the Netherlands Special Operations Command, as are the operations of the KCT.
The military bands of the United Kingdom are musical units that serve for protocol and ceremonial duties as part of the British Armed Forces. They have been the basis and inspiration for many military bands in the former British Empire and the larger Commonwealth of Nations as well as musical organizations in other countries. Military musical units with British influence include United States military bands, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Music Corps and the Military Band of Athens. British military bands are controlled by the military music departments of the three services that compose the armed forces. These include the Royal Marines Band Service, the Royal Corps of Army Music, and the Royal Air Force Music Services. British style brass bands and carnival bands were then and are currently inspired by the British Armed Forces and its brass bands, especially of the Army's regular and reserve formations, as they follow a similar format as it relates to brass and percussion instruments.