I was studying engineering in the 1970s when our maths professor, right in the middle of a lecture, stopped and complained that for days now he simply couldn't get this theme tune out of his head. Some of the students then started humming it and before long all 300 of us joined in imitating trumpets and violins.
I was a European truck driver. Every chance i had i would park up in Weesp, one stop from Amsterdam central station. I recognised all the filming locations. I saw the drey horses delivering the beer to the bars where they filmed. A lot of weekends i would sit outside drinking coffee trying to get into Ann Franks house, but could not get in because of German students being told about the Frank family. The Dutch people were so amazing. I once got back from Amsterdam. Washed,changed and flew back to Amsterdam with the ex. I flew back to Liverpool, got home, got the truck and i was back in Amsterdam the night after. I used to blast out the theme all the time. As i worked from Oswestry i was stunned that Simon Park was from the Oswestry area himself, the guy who wrote the theme tune. They don`t make T V like this anymore.
Why am I seeking out and listening to the theme tune to Van der Valk at 1.35 in the morning on the 7th Jan... because this music is a time capsule back to when life (although far from perfect) hadn’t deteriorated into a sad shadow of what it once was ...and this music just confirms that.
DesertRose122 Sadly I agree. I’ve thought the same for quite a while - and I can’t see how we’re going to get out of the current situation for a long time.
I was an American at the Thamesmead School in Shepperton-on-Thames in 1973 and loved this show having previously lived in Amsterdam. Every day during lunch some radio station played this and some kids -- at the time to me giant sixth formers -- played this at full blast which filled the schoolyard. A happy moment for me then and a happy memory now.
Brings a tear to my of a mixed childhood. Watching the series again it's clear how much John Thaw borrowed from the superb Barry Foster in playing Morse.
I had this tune playing in my head regularly for years .my mum put it on a mix tape for me when I was a kid and I always liked it .I tried whistling it into Shazam but it couldn’t find it . Move on to this evening I put on Peter Kay’s phoenix nights and they have it playing in the background I go to Shazam and there it’s is and all Of a sudden memories come flooded back to a marching band I was in when I was ten which played van der valk but 37 years later I had completely forgotten this till tonight. I google the name scroll down a few till I find this RU-vid video of it and now here I am finishing my little story with a thank you , thank you Peter Kay, Shazam,RU-vid and the person that uploaded this
I was born 1971 and I can remember hearing this theme tune but not the programme so much. Listening to this now reminds me of when life was so simple and happy.
Dave ONeill : Fantastic exciting stirring theme. They don't make em like that any more. It does indeed bring back innocent childhood memories of running down the street with your school mates on a cold dark early November evening knocking on people's doors and running away. There was always one tripped and fell. We would all stop in our tracks to help him or her up whilst giggling. The magic of childhood. Oh to travel back in time.
Brilliant series. The late great Barry Foster. Thanks ever so much to Talking Pictures TV channel for reshowing all episodes on Friday nights in 2020....
I don't think most people realise the value of cheerful music like this. It really is uplifting, and there are good musical reasons why. A lot of music, whether modern or classical is just music to cut your throat by. This happy tune should be compulsory listening for those feeling depressed!
Such an uplifting piece of music, never fails to pick me up when I'm down. I feel as If I've been transported to a world of sheer joy. Music doesn't get much better than this.
Barry Foster is one of the best actors I've ever seen on stage (without ever trying to steal a scene, one couldn't walk out without remembering HIM). He brings a great humanity to the series which is repeated on TV with its glorious theme. Matt Munro's "And you smiled" is a loving joy. Munro has the same quality with his voice. Miss them.
Why ITV didn't use Eye Level as the theme for the 2020 Van Der Valk reboot will remain one of the mysteries of the ages, literally one of the best theme tunes ever...
tina sheppard Goosebumps indeed! Thrilled to hear this again. I used to get so cross when the music faded away. I see the composer Jan Stoeckart died in January of this year.
You will, then, remember the theme tunes to Randal and Hopkirk ( Deceased ), Follyfoot, The Onedin Line ( which is a lovely shortened version of Khachaturian`s "Spartacus," well worth listening to in YT ), and the great theme tune of The Persuaders ( Roger Moore and Tony Curtis - as were ).
It IS old. There is a passage in "The Marriage of Figaro" that sounds quite similar. We might talk about Simon Parks Orchestra feat. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Ah, you decided to be the unoriginal person doing the 'never grows old' comment, I see. You keep hanging in there for that thought of your own, it could happen any day.
A teacher played this to us once in infant school back in the early 80's and it stuck with me like an ear worm ever since. The best theme tune. Particularly towards the end as it all really ramps up 🥰 thank you for posting.
This takes me back to my senior school days mid seventies...played before the annual school play..when every one were taking there seats and settling in....brilliant.
Thank you. Im in my mid 40's now and whenever i hear this it reminds me of my childhood..a young boy sitting with my mom and dad. It fills me with overwhelming joy and emotion. Memories are such wonderfull things.
Well put. That's what it does for me too, and I'm in my 60s. It's complete joy and warmth and comfort to hear it again - that feeling of being encircled with happiness.
I suppose that in every age new patterns of thought emerge, the development of which is always resisted by some. At the moment, today's new patterns are called "woke agenda", but if patterns of thought were not changing, it would be the first time in history that that is the case!
Classic and great tune, played it in my Junior School Orchestra early 1970s, I was violin. Currently watching the series on TV at the moment, today’s TV programmes don’t come close.
That I can recall, the original Van Der Valk series did not air in the US during it's original run, but I do recall the theme being used at the time in the background of TV and radio advertising for KLM. It is a catchy, memorable tune that has stuck with me for all these years; an earworm that, even still, would wake up at the sight of KLM aircraft and stay with me for days. I had not been familiar with the original series, but the portion of Eye Level subtly used in the music for the recent revival of Van Der Valk immediately caught my ear. It's great to be reintroduced to this fine piece of music in its entirety after 40-50 years.
My Dad was from Holland and even though Mum was an Aussie, she loved visiting. Van der Valk was shown really late at night on Australian tv and she and I used to sit up to watch it. Happy memories
When I hear this I do remember as a young dutch guy the tv-series. In "my" Amsterdam but with english speaking people.. and the white dutch police VW Kever (Beetle).. memory lane...
I read an amusing quip long ago by Barry Foster along the lines of "if I hadn't looked so much like Jon Pertwee I might have got more work - people kept getting us confused". What he said was actually very funny. I tried to find the quote just now but couldn't. So yes, David, you're right.
As a title tune to a crime series very uncommon. Absolutely adorable music. One of those tunes you have in your ear even after the first time you heard it. But now my personal impression: to me it sounds like the perfect christmas tune!
From the very first time i heard this played when i was young it gave me the love of all types of music and the love of life . Thanks for posting this on youtube i thought i would ever hear this again in my life time
If you can listen to this without tapping your foot, you must be stone deaf. Even if you only saw Van der Valk once, you;d forever remember this tine and associate it with that programme forever, long after any plots or storylines.
Couldn't sleep for coughing last night and for some reason this tune came into my head. It took me a while to remember the name of the show and I just HAD to RU-vid it this morning. Great tune. Another one I love is the music to the London Marathon and I was surprised to learn it was written by Ron Goodwin for the film The Trap.
A smashing, uplifting tune. Thank you for posting it here. Looking back, I was a proto-EU fan even at 10 years old when I used to watch this programme. I remember being swept up in the romance of it, and the EU I love today. I'm learning to play it on piano at the moment.
This was a stirring theme during my childhood and it always reminds me of my Amsterdam trip in 1987, which almost turned into an even bigger trip thanks to the sales guy outside the railway station!
Andrew Buckley how sad that people only relate visiting Amsterdam with drugs. It's a fantastic city with amazing culture and architecture. Fucking wasters.
I can remember in my teens( 25yrs ago) when i used to walk through Central Station in Glasgow and they used to play music over the tannoy this was one tune that used to be played all the time
as soon as i heard this music from my bed room i used to pop a note underneath the lounge door to say "i can't sleep" and because dad was out playng crib ( 40yrs ago ) mum would let me down stairs to watch, not sure i took it all in but the theme tune has always been dear to my heart
Great song. I had heard it in the early 70s for KLM airlines commercial. Until today nobody could tell me the name of the song. I do not remember the tv series mentioned here. It looks like an English show. I am not sure we got it in Canada although we got many English series in the 70s and 80s. I mostly liked the comedies though like Benny Hill and Some Mothers Do Have Them and Man About The House. I remember seeing Barry Foster in the Hitchcock movie Frenzy though where he played a bad guy. I am glad to finally know the name of this song.
I remember this series and the great theme tune as a 70's kid. Barry Foster was a terrific actor. Last night there was a 'reboot' on ITV which was absolute rubbish. Why remake a classic anyway, the original series is on Talking Pictures.
@@tinahardman9805 Thanks, I wasn't sure and it was a long time ago, but by the power of RU-vid and IMDB, I was wrong. I was remembering Barry Foster in the 1990's series.
@@karendorner5316 Me too Karen and a fab time to grow up and lovely memories of my parents too. Did u like Crown court and Emergency ward 10.Kind regards Glynn and greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands UK 🤝
@@robbieedward8773 Hi Robbie, Thanks for your reply you are so right my favourite advert was when the race horse refused to race out of the starting stalls and the jockey lit up a cigar too.Do u like the theme to World of Sport with the legendary Dickie Davis .Kind regards Glynn and greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands UK 🤝
Rest in peace Barry This was a great series and an unforgettable theme tune Bring back the good times not like the so called celebrities today They are nothing and nobody
