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Victory at Sea
Richard Rodgers and Robert Russell Bennett
Subtitle: Symphonic Scenario
General Info
Year: 1955
Duration: c. 10:00
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Williamson Music, exclusively distributed by Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts - $85.00 | Score Only - $7.50
Instrumentation
Piano (Conductor Condensed Score)
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-f;at Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet Solo-I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Harp
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Snare drum
- Oriental drum
- Military drum
- Bass drum
- Crash cymbals
- Suspended cymbal
- Large gong
- Tambourine
- Low bells
- Orchestra bells
- Xylophone
Errata
In Parts:
- B-flat Trumpet I, m.277, beat 1: G should read B.
- Horn in F I, m.108, beat 4-6: The rhythm should read: eighth rest - eighth note - eighth note.
- Horn in F I, m.243, beat 1: Add quarter rest.
- Horn in F I, m.278, beat 1&: C should read B.
- Horn in F I, m.280, beat 1&: G natural should read G sharp.
- Horn in F II, m.23: Delete smudge at top of measure.
- Horn in F II, m.80: Remove rehearsal "81".
- Horn in F II, m.81: Add rehearsal "81".
- Horn in F II, m.158: Add B-flat key signature.
- Baritone T.C., m.160, beat 6: Add eighth rest.
- Basses, m.253, beat 2: Lower voice A should read G.
- Percussion, m.22: Add rehearsal figure "22".
- Percussion, m.27: Change rehearsal figure "22" to "27".
Program Notes
The documentary television series about naval warfare during World War II entitled Victory at Sea was originally broadcast by NBC in the United States in 1952 and 1953. It was condensed into a film in 1954. Excerpts from the music soundtrack, by Richard Rodgers and Robert Russell Bennett, were re-recorded and sold as record albums. The series, which won an Emmy award in 1954 as "best public affairs program," played an important part in establishing historic "compilation" documentaries as a viable television genre.
The New Yorker Magazine describes the music as "a seemingly endless creation, now martial, now tremendously moving." The symphonic sweep of Rodgers's score captures the moods and variations of the panoramic war at sea in all its terror and beauty, and adds an elusive emotional dimension which neither camera nor words quite convey.
Rodgers's music is greatly enhanced by the comprehensive arrangement of his long-time collaborator, Robert Russell Bennett. Bennett transformed 12 of Rodgers's 24 "themes" — Song of the High Seas (main theme), Submarines in a Calm Sea, Beneath the Southern Cross, The Guadalcanal March, The Sunny Pacific Islands, The Approaching Enemy, Death and Debris, The Hymn of Victory, Big Wave -- into today's symphonic scenario. Bennett also composed much more original material than Rodgers had, for which he received little credit.
- Program Note adapted from Wikipedia and Program Notes for Band
Media
- Audio CD: United States Navy Band - 1998
- Audio CD: The United States Army Field Band, Fort George G. Meade, MD (Colonel Finley R. Hamilton, conductor).
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- California State University Northridge Wind Ensemble (Lawrence Stoffel, conductor) - 2 May 2023
- Virginia Grand Military Band (Alexandria) (Loras John Schissel, conductor) - 5 November 2022
- Blossom Festival Band (Cleveland, Ohio) (Loras John Schissel, conductor) - 4 July 2022
- Heart of Texas Concert Band (San Antonio) (R. Mark Rogers, conductor) - 4 July 2021
- Andrews University (Berrien Spring, Mich.) Wind Symphony (Byron Graves, conductor) - 24 October 2020
- Philadelphia (Penn.) Wind Symphony (Paul Bryan, conductor) – 26 October 2019
- United States Coast Guard Band (New London Conn.) (Lewis J. Buckley, conductor) – 13 October 2019
- Cary (N.C.) Town Band (Stuart Holoman, conductor) – 15 June 2019
- Kenosha (Wisc.) Pops Concert Band (Craig Gall, conductor)– 12 June 2019
- Lodi (Calif.) Community Band (Art Holton, conductor) – 8 June 2018 (Golden Gate Park, San Francisco)
- Gottschalk Music Center Concert Band (Modesto, Calif.) (Matthew Cover, conductor) – 8 June 2018 (Golden Gate Park, San Francisco)
- Hopatcong (N.J.) Wind Ensemble (Kurt Zimmerman, conductor) – 16 May 2019
- Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Indiana, Penn.) Symphony Band (Jason Worzbyt, conductor) – 10 November 2018
- Encore Concert Band (Mokena, Ill.) (Bill Schuetter, conductor) - 4 July 2018
- Le Mars (Iowa) Municipal Band (Jerry Bertrand, conductor) - 27 June 2018
- Atascadero (Calif.) Community Band (Gary Willems, conductor) – 19 June 2018
- California State University, Northridge, Wind Ensemble (Lawrence Stoffel, conductor) – 3 May 2018
- Healdsburg (Calif.) Community Band (Randy Masselink, conductor) - 6 May 2018
- Charlotte (N.C.) Concert Band (Drew Carter, conductor) – 23 April 2017
- Burbank (Calif.) Community Band (Paulette Westphal, conductor) – 25 February 2017
Works for Winds by these Composers
Richard Rodgers Adaptable Music
- My Favorite Things (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Buckley) (1959/2014)
All Wind Works
- Bali Hai (arr. Yoder) (1949/1953)
- Blue Moon (arr. Barker) (1937/1962)
- Carousel: Highlights (arr. Yoder) (1945/1964)
- Carousel: Selections (arr. Leidzen) (1945/1948)
- Carousel Waltz (arr. Bennett) (1945/1957)
- Cinderella Waltz (arr. Bennett) (1958)
- Circus on Parade, The (arr. Warrington) (1935)
- Flower Drum Song (arr. Lang) (1958/1959)
- Golden Age of Broadway, The (arr. Moss) (2009)
- Guadalcanal March (arr. Bennett) (1952/1978)
- Guadalcanal March (arr. Curnow) (1952/1989)
- Guadalcanal March (arr. Leidzen) (1952)
- If I Loved You from "Carousel"(arr. Werle) (1945/)
- It's a Grand Night for Singing (arr. Brown) (1945)
- Highlights from "Oklahoma!" (arr. Moss) (1943/1994)
- Highlights from "Oklahoma!" (arr. Yoder) (1943/1954)
- Highlights from "South Pacific" (arr. Lang) (1949/1958)
- Highlights from "The King and I" (arr. Herfurth) (1951/1957)
- Highlights from "The Sound of Music" (arr. Cable) (1959)
- King and I, The, Selections (tr. Bennett) (1951)
- Lady is a Tramp (arr. Hastreiter)
- Manhattan (arr. Morrissey) (1925/1953/1959)
- March of the Siamese Children (arr. Bennett) (1951)
- My Favorite Things (arr. Jennings) (1959/1992)
- My Favorite Things (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Buckley) (1959/2014)
- Oklahoma! (arr. Bennett, adapt. Rodgers) (1943/1997)
- Oklahoma!: Selections (arr. Leidzen) (1943)
- Richard Rodgers in Concert (arr. Huff)
- Richard Rodgers in Concert (arr Lowden)
- Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Oklahoma" (arr. Edmondson) (1943/1982)
- Salute to Richard Rodgers (arr. Ricketts)
- Selections from "Carousel" (arr. Bennett) (1945)
- Selections from "Carousel" (arr. Custer) (1945/1995)
- Selections from "The Sound of Music" (arr. Christensen) (1959/1989)
- Slaughter on 10th Avenue (arr. Lang) (1936/1954)
- Slaughter on 10th Avenue (arr. Moss)
- The Sound of Music -- Selections (arr. Bennett) (1959/1960)
- The Sound of Music Medley (arr. Iwai)
- South Pacific -- Highlights
- South Pacific: Selection (tr. Leidzen) (1949)
- South Pacific Symphonic Scenario (arr. Bennett; adapt. Rogers) (1949/1999)
- Symphonic Highlights from "The King and I" (arr. Bulla) (1951/2016)
- Themes from "Victory at Sea" (arr. Maltby) (1953/1975)
- Tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein (arr. Custer)
- Victory at Sea Symphonic Scenario (tr. Bennett) (1954/1955)
- Victory at Sea (arr Moss)
- You'll Never Walk Alone (arr. Rhea) (1945/2018)
- You'll Never Walk Alone (arr. Walden and VanDoren) (1945/2017)
Robert Russell Bennett
- Autobiography (1979)
- Carousel Waltz (as arranger) (1945/1957)
- Christmas Overture (1981)
- Cinderella Waltz (as arranger)
- Concerto Grosso (1958/1959)
- Down to the Sea in Ships (ed. Glaser) (1954/2016)
- SS Eagle March (1969/2016)
- The Fabulous Country (1975)
- Fanfare for the AWSO
- Four Preludes (1974)
- Gigi (as arranger) (1957/)
- The Gondoliers (as arranger) (1889/1962)
- King and I, The, Selections (as arranger) (1951)
- Mademoiselle
- The Many Moods of Christmas (arr. Rehbein) (2002)
- The Many Moods of Christmas, Suite II (arr. Rogers) (1971/2019)
- The Many Moods of Christmas, Suite IV (arr. Rogers) (1962/2019)
- March of the Siamese Children (as arranger)
- Oklahoma! (as arranger)
- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (as arranger) (1970)
- Picasso Suite Sketch (as arranger) (1974)
- Porgy and Bess: Selections (as arranger) (1934/1942)
- Rose Variations (1956)
- Selections from "Suite of Old American Dances" (arr. Curnow) (1950/2005)
- Cake Walk (arr. Curnow) (1992)
- Western One-Step (arr. Curnow) (1989)
- Western One-Step (arr. Curnow) (1989)
- Soap Box Derby March (1966)
- The Sound of Music -- Selections (as arranger) (1959/1960)
- South Pacific Symphonic Scenario (as arranger; adapt. Rogers) (1949/1999)
- Suite of Old American Dances (1949)
- Suite of Old American Dances (ed. Higgins) (1949/1952)
- Symphonic Songs for Band (ed. Ferencz) (1958)
- Three Humoresques
- Track Meet (1961)
- Twain and the River
- Victory at Sea
- White Christmas (as arranger) (1940/1948)
Resources
- Bennett, Robert Russell. The Broadway Sound: The Autobiography and Selected Essays of Robert Russell Bennett. Edited by George Ferencz. Eastman Studies in Music, no. 12. University of Rochester Press, 1999.
- Ferencz, George J. The Music for Victory at Sea: Richard Rodgers, Robert Russell Bennett, and the Making of a TV Masterpiece. Eastman Studies in Music, no. 190. University of Rochester Press, 2023.
- Ferencz, George J. Robert Russell Bennett: A Bio-Bibliography. Bio-Bibliographies in Music, No. 29. Greenwood Press, 1990.
- Rodgers, Richard; Bennett, Robert Russell. Victory at Sea: Symphonic Scenario [score]. Williamson Music, 1954.
- Smith, Norman E. Program Notes for Band. GIA Publications, 2002, page 512.
- Victory at Sea, Wikipedia