From Kipling to Clapton, military musicians gear up for Horse Guards spectacular
Armed Forces bands are preparing to take centre stage at Horse Guards Parade for three consecutive live and outdoor showings of the annual Military Musical Spectacular.
Around 250 people, predominantly military personnel, have been rehearsing for weeks ahead of the main event, which usually includes marching, vehicles, pyrotechnics, special renditions and more.
The Massed Bands of the Guards Division, The Duchess of Edinburgh's String Orchestra and the mounted State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry and Massed Pipes are all taking part.
King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, the Drums of The London Scottish Regiment and Tayforth University Officer Training Corps are also part of the line-up.
This year's theme is Heroes: Military, Literary and Musical.
The performances are expected to honour the works of Roald Dahl and Rudyard Kipling, alongside the likes of Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler.
The shows run until Thursday, and the Princess Royal is set be the guest of honour on Wednesday.
"The scene I'm conducting – scene three – is all about literary heroes," said Captain Andrew Porter, Director of Music for the Band of the Grenadier Guards, during rehearsals at Horse Guards Parade.
"With the music for that you hear a little bit of Lord of the Rings and also Pure Imagination.
"The main challenges for everybody on parade is that we rehearse in different venues.
"We rehearse at Woolwich, which is a much larger parade square than Wellington Barracks where we rehearsed last week.
"We then bring it on to Horse Guards Parade, and the dimensions change again."
Without wanting to give away any spoilers, Capt Porter did say members of the audience would be able to look forward to a finale named Guitar Hero.
Special feature performances include renditions from the Iraqi Army Military Music, alongside many more cameo appearances – including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
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