Symphonic Poem. The 31 kilometer (19 miles) long beautiful Thien Duong Cave ? or Paradise Cave ? lies in one of Vietnam?s national parks and was not discovered until 2005. Composer Jan de Haan visited this unearthly looking place. The grandness and astounding splendour of this natural wonder made such an impression that it inspired him to write this composition. He experienced Paradise Cave as art, albeit formed by nature across millions of years. Back home, he rendered the imposing experience in music. This resulted in a colourful and spectacular concert work for fanfare band. Paradise Cave is dedicated to the World Music Contest (WMC).

Renowned Belgian composer Kevin Houben composed ?Ride? for the ?Fanfare ?Bereden Wapens??. This orchestra originated after drastic reorganisations and cutbacks within Defense in 2011 and 2012, including in the military music armed forces. The thought behind the composition ?Ride? is the signal ?forward?. The signal ?Forward? is part of a military memorial ceremony, as the sign to close off a sad or dark period, and to go on with renewed force. ?Ride? is also a command for horses to go forward. Appropriate, as the ?Fanfare ?Bereden Wapens??, part of the regiment Huzaren van Boreel, is part of the Cavalry. When the Fanfarekorps Koninklijke Landmacht ?Bereden Wapens? was abrogated, this was an extremely sad and radical moment for the orchestra members. The ?Fanfare ?Bereden Wapens?? announces the dawn of a new period and picks up again with an effervescent and splashing composition: ?Ride?.

The Battle on the Heath On 24 January 1597, the ?Tielenheide? - a stretch of moorland near the Belgian village of Tielen, south of Turnhout-was the scene of a great battle. Prince Maurice of Nassau, commander of the Dutch army, crushingly defeated Count Varax, a Burgundian general of the Spanish army. In military circles, the Battle of Turnhout caused quite a stir: a Spanish army of five thousand men was initially held up for hours through daring short moves by fifteen cavalrymen and a few hundred foot-soldiers -and subsequently, this Spanish army was overpowered by barely a thousand cavalrymen, without the help of the infantrymen. New weaponry proved its value that day. The Dutch cavalrymen were not armed with spears, as previously, but with long, carbine-like pistols . Before the pikemen of the Spanish army could stick their fearsome, six-metre-long spears into the ground to protect themselves against the onrushing horses, they were shot to pieces or knocked down. During the battle, the state troops seized a number of flags, which would embellish the Ridderzaal (Knights? Hall) in The Hague for years.In a contemporary Dutch military magazine, the victory at the ?Tielenheide? has been described as ? the heaviest blow ever delivered by the Dutch cavalry?. The location where the battle took place is no langer moorland: it is now a pine forest planted more than a century age, to meet the demand for wood in the old coalmines of Limburg . Part of the forest is now the military territory of the Third Paratroop Batallion, and part is now the De Waal nature reserve: it is not accessible to the public. In Tielen there is still a street called the Tielenheide, near the former moorland.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough. First recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967, this Motown classic has enjoyed continued popularity including a feature spot in the blockbuster movie Guardians of the Galaxy. Here is a powerful version for the field or stands, but also quick to learn.