Piano Concerto Second Rhapsody

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.