Editorial Reviews

The 1952 NBC series Victory at Sea was one of the earliest network documentary series to capture the public's imagination in a serious way, and one of the more enduring offshoots was the music by Richard Rodgers, which was recorded by RCA-Victor in what ultimately became a series of four LPs. Rodgers was chosen by series producer Henry Salamon based on his being the "leading American composer of his day," a somewhat exalted (though understandable) judgement for a man who was most closely associated with the Broadway stage and Hollywood. Rodgers devised a straightforward melodic score whose most inspired moments (such as the main title theme) seem to have been lifted from the early work of Ralph Vaughan Williams. The albums were popular, probably due in part to the fact that a lot of veterans owned stereo systems in the late '50s, and these recordings took full advantage of stereo's two-channel sound separation. The Dolby Surround remastering preserves the luster of the original LPs, and the stereo separation -- a function of Robert Russell Bennett's arrangements and orchestrations -- recalls the days when that kind of effect was, in and of itself, a conversation piece. Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

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