Classical Music of Scandinavia and Russia

Scandinavia

• Edvard Grieg created a distinctive Norwegian style of music, notably in his Peer Gynt Suite.
• Jean Sibelius, a Finnish composer, used folk music and myths as inspiration for his tone poems.
• Carl Nielsen, a Danish composer, composed symphonies that were unique with a distinct tonal tension.

Russia

• Mikhail Glinka transitioned Russian music beyond European influence by using Russian folk melodies in his opera, A Life for the Tsar.
• Alexander Scriabin and Sergei Rachmaninoff, part of the "Mighty Handful," used Russian folk harmonies, themes, and melodies to create a distinctive style.

France

• 19th and early 20th-century French composers experimented with harmonies, themes, and instrumentation to create a French sound, exemplified in the work of Camille Saint-Saëns, Gabriel Fauré, Vincent d'Indy, Paul Dukas, Erik Satie, Maurice Ravel, and Francis Poulenc.
• The Swan by Saint-Saëns is a famous classical piece.

Spain

• Spanish composers like Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados, Manuel de Falla, and Joaquín Rodrigo were inspired by Spanish themes, national dances (like flamenco), and Spanish guitar harmonies.
• Their work created a Romantic Spanish style.
• Francisco Goya's paintings, especially Bullfight in a Village, inspired piano suites and the opera Goyescas by Enrique Granados.

Eastern Europe

• Czech composers such as Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, and Leoš Janáček developed a Czech musical style incorporating their country's landscape and language.
• Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály (Hungary) and George Enescu (Romania) experimented with folk themes and rhythms of their respective countries.
• Smetana's Vltava portrayed the Vltava River in the Czech Republic, demonstrating location-based musical pieces.