Although a fine composer in his own right, Robert Russell Bennett´s ultimate reputation rests on the work he did as an orchestrator/arranger of other people´s music, mainly for Broadway and Hollywood musicals. He was also responsible for the orchestration and arrangement of Richard Rodger´s music for the famous 1950s US TV series ´Victory at Sea´. In 1942 he also arranged the music of his good friend Gershwin. Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture includes most of the best-known songs from the opera. Second Rhapsody is a 1931 concert piece for piano and orchestra. Although having a similar title, Second Rhapsody has never matched the popularity of the composer´s earlier Rhapsody in Blue. The Piano Concerto in F was written in 1925 on a commission from the conductor and director Walter Damrosch. It is closer in form to a traditional concerto than the earlier jazz-influenced Rhapsody in Blue. The Concerto shows considerable development in Gershwin´s compositional technique, mainly because he orchestrated the entire work himself, unlike the Rhapsody in Blue which was completed by Ferde Grofé, the orchestrator for Paul Whiteman´s orchestra.
