Interestingly, some of them were linked by the participation of a phantom composer, whose name I can almost but not quite remember.

I have that happen a lot with books I dream.

some sort of Les Mis/G&S/Tolkien-Lewis-type-epic fusion, with some random way-back New England history thrown in

That sounds very much like the kind of music your brain would generate.

Then I decided to put the music aside to go eat, and woke up and found it was time for dinner.

Fortuitous!