Hungarian folk music due to the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, who in 1846 began composing 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies for piano, five of which were later orchestrated, thus being the first pieces of music by a major composer to incorporate sources from so-called “peasant music”. These works, which broke free from classical tradition, were often viewed by the elite as brash and unrefined, yet they deeply influenced others, like Johannes Brahms, and later Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók, even having an influence on American jazz. During the 20th century, Hungarian composers were influenced by the traditional music of their nation which may be considered
William Mason (composer) York that introduced many works of Robert Schumann and other famous Europeans to Americans during the Civil War era and beyond, at a time when classical music still had little specifically American identity. Mason published numerous pedagogical works for the piano student, but is remembered above all for his Chopinesque compositions for piano. The American composer and pianist Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) dedicated his second piano sonata, Op. 50 Sonata Eroica (1895), to William Mason. He died in New York City, aged 79. William Mason (composer) William Mason (January 24, 1829 – July 14, 1908) was an American composer and pianist