Robert Russell Bennett enjoyed some distinction as an orchestrator for Broadway, working for composers such as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers. He was a pupil of Carl Busch in Kansas City and of Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and also won attention as a composer in his own right.

Orchestral and Chamber Music

Success in an RCA Victor competition for an orchestral composition (shared with Copland, Louis Gruenberg and Bloch) led Bennett to a series of orchestral works. He had entered two pieces for the Victor prize, both of which were successful: Abraham Lincoln: A Likeness in Symphony Form and Sights and Sounds (An Orchestral Entertainment). These were followed by symphonies, concertos, and a variety of chamber music.