John, in Double Life Rózsa wrote

Quote:
It was this summer [1963], after my family joined me in Rome (after scoring SODOM AND GOMORRAH), that I wrote the Notturno Ungherese for the Philadelphia Orchestra and Mr Benjamin, a southern millionaire who every year (emphasis mine) commissioned a piece for the orchestra from a composer recommended to him. This year I was the one recommended by Eugene Ormandy. When I met Benjamin he told me he didn't mind what the piece was, as long as it was quiet; he liked to have quiet music in his office while he was woarking. So once again I was to write background music.


Of course, what Rózsa should have done was cultivate a series of patrons who wanted different types of music: a schezo here, a fugue there. One piece molto agitato; another con brio; a third lento, and so forth. In due time, he would've had a whole bagful of components that he could've mixed and matched into a larger work. Maybe then we might've had another, mature symphony from the composer, with a few bits and pieces left over for a rainy day.