The man's composing songs (7)
I believe the answer is:
anthems
'songs' is the definition.
(anthem is a kind of song)
'the man's composing' is the wordplay.
'composing' indicates an anagram.
'the'+'mans'='themans'
'themans' with letters rearranged gives 'ANTHEMS'.
(Other definitions for anthems that I've seen before include "Songs of loyalty" , "songs of praise" , "National songs" , "Church songs" .)