The composers of The Five tried to put the sounds of village songs, Cossack and Caucasian dances, and church chants in their music. Russian peasants used to sing folk songs in which words or syllables were spun out with several notes into a long, lyrical line. This influence can be heard in many of the Five’s works, especially in Mussorgsky’s operas. They also frequently used music which sounded like that from Eastern Asia (“Orientalism”).