John Williams' classic movie scores
Since traditional Westerns went out of fashion in the '70s Williams' gift for Americana did not find much outlet, except for one notable exception: "The Cowboys" (1972), in which John Wayne plays a Montana cattle rancher forced to hire a bunch of kids to drive his herd to South Dakota. This being a movie, the kids grow into young men and wreak vengeance against the cowardly villain Bruce Dern.
The music has an Aaron Copland flavor in its rousing overture that has become a popular concert piece in itself.
Excerpt: "Overture" from "The Cowboys"
Credit: Warner Brothers
