Jan Stoeckart (3 November 1927[1] – 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.
He also composed "Homeward Bound", a theme from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975).
[3] His biggest success proved to be Eye Level, the theme tune to the Van der Valk TV series from the early 1970s.
ITV 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 titled 'Jan Hinnerk' in German, and 'Catootje' in Dutch, from the 18th century, became an instant hit with viewers and record buyers; the recording – made by the Simon Park Orchestra – climbed to number one on the UK singles chart in 1973.