Victory at Sea
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Free Music Notes for Victory at Sea
Free Music Review: They just don't get any better than this!
Hit: 5 Stars
Richard Rodgers, the musical one-half of the Rodgers & Hammerstein team, composed the thirteen-hour score for the 26 one-half hour editions comprising the Victory at Sea television series aired first in 1952 by NBC, long before stereophonic recordings were released to the public. His score was arranged by Robert Russell Bennett, and then rearranged by Robert Russell Bennett for the motion picture subsequently released because of the popularity of the television series. Whether this score is from the arrangement for the TV series or that for the motion picture is not clear. Either way, let's face it, a television series based on compilations of spliced black and white film footage from the only recently concluded World War II was not the cause for the incredible success of this television series; it was this very music! The score contains a myriad of motifs akin to Peter and the Wolf, but far more subtle and ingenious. Included in the Rodgers' actual musical composition are motifs of waves swelling and crashing, torpedoes launching, running and exploding, Morse code signaling, aerial searches and dives by fighters and dive bombers, storms at sea followed by clearing skies and dripping rain, horseplay by sailors, burials at sea, loneliness of crewmen, long naval runs under the Southern Cross, and reunion with loved ones in jubilation at war's end. The music is magnificent and well worth the listen, notwithstanding the addition of actual sound effects by a well-intended producer apparently unfamiliar with the motifs already existent in the score. I only wish more score could have been included in the collection!Free Music Review: A Score that Demands Your Attention
Hit: 5 Stars
This CD contains selections from the 1950's television series by the same name. The music was not only perfect for the series, it is just as spectacular by itself.Rodger's score is strong, demanding, and ever changing. The first track, "The Song of the High Seas," is a perfect example of a diverse style blended perfectly. The track begins strong, then hits hard, and ends with a very solid but noticeably lighter ending. It is a good track to show off the talent of every section of this orchestra.
It has been said that this CD is all march. That statement would be in error. "Guadalcanal March" is a good example of Rodger's ability to compose marches. However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, "The Magnetic North" is nothing like a march. That track ends with one of the most quiet, controlled endings that one might hear in modern music. There is a wide variety of styles on this CD.
Technically, the CD was recorded before 1972 in the A D D format. Those two facts made me hesitate before purchasing this CD. Don't let those two factors stop you from buying this CD. The recordings may be old, and in analog, but the CD sounds crisp and clear. You should have no trouble hearing the details of the music and enjoying this recording.
Free Music Review: Get Them Both
Hit: 5 Stars
I only have two "buts" about this and its companion "More Victory at Sea," but later on that. "Victory" was originally released as 3 LPs. This is Volume 1 and side 1 of Volume 2. "More" is side 2 of Volume 2 and all of Volume 3. Rodgers was probably the most versatile of American composers, doing television scores, instrumental music (both in his shows and other places), and of course musicals from the 1920s through 1979. This is a great score front to back, superbly orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett. After all, how many tv series do you know that filled THREE complete orchestral albums? It's highly recommended that you get both, which leads to the first "but": why didn't RCA just go ahead and make it a double CD in the first place? As for the other "but": it would be really great to see the original album issued on CD. The Volume 1 LP is actually a re-recording (and slight reorchestrating) of the actual soundtrack album. The selections, arranger and conductor were all the same on the original, but it was done by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, not the RCA Victor Symphony. Even with the two "buts", though, get both this and "More Victory at Sea." Note to RCA/BMG: how about giving us the original version, too?Free Music Review: Still wonderful after all these years...
Hit: 5 Stars
The black-and-white television series "Victory at Sea" was one of the first "can't miss it" shows in our house after my father purchased our first set in the early '50's. Ten years later, we were still listening to the LP's of Rodgers' superb soundtrack. They wore out by 1970 or so, and I never replaced them until getting this version a couple of weeks ago. When I was ten, I thought this was "classical music." When I was 20, I thought it was one of the finest film scores ever made. Now, at 63, I know that it is simply one of the best compositions and one of the best recordings of the '50's. Created to complement official films of U.S. Navy battles during World War II, the score has a surprising large amount of non-military sounding moments in it. That reflects the real rhythms of war...weeks of tedium, days of danger, hours of tension, moments of relief, triumph and despair. I now also own the original series on DVD which is available for a very modest price, and is well-worth viewing, despite its dated elements. Speaking strictly about music listening pleasure, however, this disc is a winner. There was a lot more to the genius of Richard Rodgers than the scores for "Oklahoma!" and "The Sound of Music" as good as they are.
Free Music Review: What memories!
Hit: 5 Stars
Anyone who lived through WWII will bond with this CD. The first time I heard the music, I was with the Red Cross providing entertainment for the wounded patients at Walter Reed Army Hosp. in Washington DC shortly after the war. Of course, our Navy did tangle with German subs & ships in the Atlantic, but to me Richard Rodgers' music spells the conflict on the other sea, which resulted from the Japanese devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. Mr.Rodgers was a genius in composing this music. There is no mistaking the sound of the big guns going off, the torpedo attacks, the anguish of all personnel, and then - victory. One hears several singable melodies, the most popular & memorable being the one that later became a hit popular song: "No Other Love Have I." To this day, my heart aches when I listen to this CD. Much of it, of course, is in the minor mode, til ...a VICTORY! This music reminds me of the tremendous sacrifice made by so many thousands of our American youth, one of which was my pure, 20-year-old cousin, killed on Luzon in May 1945. This is a prize CD.