Composed for orchestra, Forgotten Dreams was completed for recording by the composer on June 2, 1954, in analog mono sound, where it was first performed. It is 2 minutes and 10 seconds long. It was recorded in analog stereo sound by the composer on June 11, 1959. For both recordings, the composer played the piano solo. Lyrics were added by Mitchell Parish in 1962.

Composer quote: "Because it was used as a radio theme on the B.B.C. Network, "Forgotten Dreams" is better known in England than in the United States. The title suggests the nostalgic mood of the music."

"Forgotten Dreams was actually one of the numbers that I wrote about three years ago, for recording in the last album that was released. It was a little piece that I thought of first as a piano solo, and then I thought that perhaps I might make a little series of pieces for --- let's say for beginning pianists. But as I started to play over this thing, it seemed to me that it just had more scope to the melody than something that would be just a little simple piano piece. In other words it needed a little fuller treatment, and it needed an orchestral background. So I expanded the thing and developed it into what became "Forgotten Dreams."