Jerome Moross

Jerome Moross was an American composer born on August 1, 1913, in Brooklyn, New York, to Samuel Moross, who had emigrated from Russia, and Mollie Moross, née Greenberg, a New York native. He developed into a skilled pianist from an early age and pursued composition across multiple disciplines, including musical theater, film, television, symphony orchestras, and chamber ensembles. He also worked as an orchestrator for other composers, often without screen credit. Moross died on July 25, 1983, in Miami, at the age of 69, from complications of a stroke and congestive heart failure. He was buried at Mount Ararat Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

Two significant professional relationships shaped Moross's early career. He encountered Bernard Herrmann during his formative years, and the two remained lifelong friends; it was Herrmann who opened doors for Moross in the entertainment industry, leading to his first composition work writing music cues for radio programs in 1935. In 1931, Moross met Aaron Copland and became a member of Copland's Young Composers Group, which also counted Herrmann among its participants. Copland supported Moross's development as a composer, and Moross later returned the professional favor by orchestrating Copland's score for the film Our Town, a contribution that went uncredited. He similarly orchestrated Hugo Friedhofer's score for The Best Years of Our Lives without credit.

In the 1940s, Moross relocated to Hollywood, where he composed music for sixteen films between 1948 and 1969. His 1956 score for the World War II drama The Sharkfighters employed ethnic themes built around syncopation and percussion, with a prominent ostinato rhythm that became a defining characteristic of his subsequent work on western films. His most celebrated film score was written for the 1958 production The Big Country, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. Moross attributed the composition of the main title to a memory of walking through the flatlands near Albuquerque, New Mexico, during a visit in October 1936. His other film credits include The Proud Rebel, The Mountain Road, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Five Finger Exercise, The Cardinal, The War Lord, Rachel Rachel, The Valley of Gwangi, and Hail Hero. For television, he composed the main theme used during the third through eighth seasons of the western series Wagon Train, a theme derived from his score for the 1959 film The Jayhawkers.

Moross's concert compositions included a sonata for piano duet and string quartet, as well as a symphony that conductor Sir Thomas Beecham premiered on October 18, 1943, in Seattle, Washington.

His Broadway and theater work spanned several decades. In 1935, he contributed co-incidental music to the play Mother. In 1948, he composed the music for three one-act musicals: Susanna and the Elders, Willie the Weeper, and The Eccentricities of Davey Crockett. His most prominent stage work was The Golden Apple, a musical for which he composed the score. The production premiered Off-Broadway in 1954 before transferring to Broadway, and its best-known song was "Lazy Afternoon." He also composed the music for the 1963 musical Gentlemen, Be Seated.

In 1939, Moross married Hazel Abrams in New York City. Hazel was the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Russia, and the couple had one daughter together. Hazel Moross died in early 1983, approximately four months before Jerome's own death. He was buried beside her at Mount Ararat Cemetery.