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About This Site
This tribute was conceived when I heard that Tom Birkett had died. One of my favourite marches is The Adjutant (Captain Loyd), which seems so joyful and whimsical on one hand but full of pathos on the other. I found out that this this piece was composed by a Coldsrean Guards man, Tom Birkett, when contacted by Major Richard Powell; both of us were lurking on the guestbook of an Irish Corps of Drums website. While Richard was a Scots Guards piper, he also has a passion for the drums; he too thinks that The Adjutant is one of the finest pieces ever written for a marching band. In fact, Richard liked it so much he had* one written for himself! (*Distinguished enough that Tom would write one dedicated to him!) Before launching into this project, I scoured virtually all the public domain websites dedicated to the Coldstream Guards and found nothing about this composer; in fact nothing really about Coldstream Guards' music at all. This was disappointing; this oldest of regiments has such a musical history that gives it such a distinctive and very British character.
So there are the raisons d'etre for this wee plot in the cyber world.
This is Major Richard Powell (author of the resume)
And this is me, Stu Ross
