I've always felt the person really responsible for the unique quality of the VICTORY AT SEA score was the arranger/conductor, Robert Russell Bennett. The orchestration is marked by unusual arrangements with haunting passages and hard-driving rhythms, and doesn't seem like the work of someone whose background is musical comedy/romance! Possibly Rodgers sketched out some melodies, which Bennett fleshed out into something original and amazing. The original soundtrack was never released, only re-arranged "suites" as in this instance. The music tracks probably still exist in their original form, since the episodes were remixed for home video (and TV), with the narration dialed down to a whisper, and the music blasting!
I've always felt the person really responsible for the unique quality of the VICTORY AT SEA score was the arranger/conductor, Robert Russell Bennett. The orchestration is marked by unusual arrangements with haunting passages and hard-driving rhythms, and doesn't seem like the work of someone whose background is musical comedy/romance! Possibly Rodgers sketched out some melodies, which Bennett fleshed out into something original and amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe original soundtrack was never released, only re-arranged "suites" as in this instance. The music tracks probably still exist in their original form, since the episodes were remixed for home video (and TV), with the narration dialed down to a whisper, and the music blasting!
-RM