The "Classical"—non-film—works of Hollywood film composers are often lesser known, and in fact have often been met with suspicion and low regard. Performers and conductors are often unfamiliar with these works and, in many cases, they remain ignored of in much of musical literature.

This dissertation examines one representative work from five prominent Hollywood film composers: Bernard Herrmann, Miklós Rózsa, Don Davis, Paul Chihara, and Bruce Broughton. These composers represent the diverse musical styles present throughout almost a century's worth of Hollywood's film music history. The works considered here include: Herrmann's Souvenir du Voyage, Rózsa's Sonata for Solo Clarinet op. 41, Davis's Chronym III, Chihara's Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, and Broughton's Conversations for Clarinet and String Quartet.

These works are hardly known and performed; yet they are representative of each composer's compositional style outside of film. For Rózsa, Davis, Chihara, and Broughton, their concert writing often sharply contrasted with their film scoring habits, which followed their dominantly avant-garde, or postmodern compositional styles. Yet, in the case of Herrmann, it is clear that his score for Joy in the Morning was the foundation for his Souvenir du Voyage. Transference of thematic material between his film music and his concert works is easily observed.