Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963) has been a favorite composer of mine since high school. His harmonic language is expansive, modern with ancient references. (In addition to composing bangers, Hindemith also spearheaded a revival of ancient music. "Period" ensembles owe much to him.)
Like many other European artists, Hindemith fled to the U.S. in the late 1930s. It's a shame he didn't work in Hollywood, because he was good at writing quickly and practically, and his harmonic vocabulary lends itself well to epic cinema. He did visit L.A. with his wife, when he was looking for a place to settle down. This included a tour of the Disney lot. Since his visit coincided with the production of "Fantasia" he got to visit the studio where Leopold Stokowski was conducting "The Rite of Spring." Hindemith was so turned off by the butchering of Stravinsky's score that he ruled out working in movies & TV. Instead, he settled on the East Coast and landed a teaching job at Yale.
Still, there are scores of his written in the 1930s and early '40s that are cinematic in sound, leaving me to wonder what could've been, if he'd not been so put off by what he heard during the production of "Fantasia." Here are three of my favorites:
"Mathis der Maler" Symphony (1934): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szLSnRb5wp8
Symphonic Dances (1937): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWjcdQXmho8
Symphony in E-flat (1940): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U3-Csa6nJU
