Similarly, the British have enjoyed a highly developed and sophisticated musical performance tradition, and amateur improvisation figured prominently in the country"s early history. Likewise, the French have a strong sense of national identity imbued in their performing arts; in their music in particular, their "concerns for orderly design, delicate expressiveness, simplicity, naturalness, and beauty of sound extend back for centuries. Articulate philosophical and structural considerations have played important roles in developing nationalistic traits in the German tradition of musical performance" (Foss, Thomas & Carr 6). Likewise, the robust folklorist traditions of Spain, Hungary, and Russia have influenced rhythm, melody, and sonority in Western musical performing traditions, and the authors add that the Russian schools of string and piano technique have greatly advanced the performance resources of these instruments in the past 100 years (Foss et al. 6). In his ballad, "American Pie," Don McLean lamented the "day the music died," and Graf seems to agree that contemporary music cannot ever even attempt to reach the lofty levels of sophistication achieved by Beethoven"s works: .

             No other musician is as close to this construction energy of Beethoven as Brahms. Nor could any other symphonic music attain creative energy comparable to that which constitutes Beethoven's greatness, with the exception of the first movement of the Brahms Symphony Number One. This work surpasses in logical strength every music creation of modern times. Here everything is crowded together, the clouds of passion condensed, the world of shapelessness and agitation controlled by spiritual power (emphasis added) (Graf 13.).