After that war he moved to Broadway, where he collaborated with great American songwriters and composers like Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and George Gershwin. A lifelong musician and composer from Kansas City, Missouri, Bennett had cut his teeth on military music during World War I, when he had directed an army band. That distinction belonged to American composer Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981). Robert Russell Bennett courtesy of Chappell Music Company. Yet although Rodgers was the “big name” and creative inspiration behind the magnificent music, he was not really responsible for writing it in the form that millions of Americans would hear over the coming years. Although Rodgers was fresh from his work on The King and I, and used to writing music set to lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, he delved into the new project right away and greatly enjoyed it. Courtesy Library of Congress.Īs Salomon began devising the themes and writing the narration for each half-hour episode, NBC executive Pat Weaver approached Broadway composer Richard Rodgers (1902-1979), already famous for his award-winning work on Carousel, South Pacific, and The King and I. “If you were approached to do some work for the United States Navy,” Weaver said, “we’d like your assurance that you wouldn’t refuse to consider it.” A little taken aback, Rodgers replied, “Well, of course I wouldn’t refuse to consider an offer from the United States Navy.”Īs it turned out, Rodgers only agreed to compose the musical themes for "Victory at Sea" on condition that neither he nor NBC earned any money from the series’ initial run-a condition to which the network, rightly anticipating massive later profits on future runs-agreed.
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