It’s that time of year again, when pretty much every orchestra in the country has an “All American” program for the Fourth, in which they play the works of American composers.

“Pops” orchestras will drag out the usual suspects: Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, John Williams – and wrap things up with some John Philip Sousa.

More “serious” orchestras will feature works by Charles Ives, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, John Adams, Florence Price, or Samuel Barber.

But there are some American composers who really deserve to be included in that crowd.

Les Baxter (1922-1996) is known as one of the major contributors to the “exotica” genre. You could certainly call many of his works “tone poems”, in that they are designed to evoke a specific place and mood. As an example, the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana wrote Má vlast, a set of six tone poems with each one depicting places or legends from Bohemia. So what would you call Baxter’s 1957 album Ports of Pleasure?

“….Ports of Pleasure evokes a Far East that seems almost mythical, Baxter’s exotic melodies and Technicolor arrangements beautifully evoke an Orient as alien as it is intoxicating, where elephants lumber through city squares, monkey butlers await your every command and nothing is exactly as it seems. Titles like “Tramp Steamer to Singapore,” “City of Veils” and “Harem Silks of Bombay” perfectly capture the cinematic precision of Baxter’s artistry…” – Jason Ankeny, AllMusic.com

Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) managed to earn eighteen Academy Award nominations for his film work – but thanks to bad luck and poor timing, he only managed one win. In the meantime, he was just as prolific writing for the small screen, with a career starting in the 1950s Here’s one of his earlier works:

If you’re paying attention, you’ll note that the theme starts out light and bouncy and simple – then when the adults appear, it becomes richer and more complex….

Hoyt Curtin (1992-2000) was the “in house” composer for Hanna-Barbera Studios. That he wrote music for cartoons does NOT mean that he shouldn’t be taken seriously.

I’m told that the theme for “Jonny Quest” contains one of the more difficult trombone parts ever written…..

Mike Post (1944- ) is so prolific that it’s fair to say people have heard his work more than any other composer of the late 20^th century. Yes, you could call it “jazz” and argue that it’s not something for a symphony orchestra, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a composer. Especially when orchestras will gladly play Gershwin and Joplin and other “jazz” greats…..

A TV theme fills the exact same role as an opera overture, right? Introduce the mood, set the stage, present the main themes…..all in just about a minute.

Television music should not be dismissed. There are quite a few composers that would be honored for their film work who also “dabbled” or got their start in television. Leonard Rosenman earned an Oscar for his score to Barry Lyndon (1975); one of his early works was the theme for the TV series Combat!. Here’s an early “overture” by Danny Elfman…..

Another composer who started in TV is John Williams……