One of the key similarities between the works of Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Amy Beach and John Paine was that each of them utilized unique piano pieces that related to background and ethnic descent. Gottschalk perfected the Creole elements, Beach incorporated numerous folk tunes (for instance, African American, Scottish, Native American), and Paine was eventually loyal to the German style. Each of the arrangements released by these three composers contained a unique mix of ethnic sounds and national pride that could be easily distinguished. This multicultural energy allowed the composers to appeal to most listeners and achieve incredibly positive feedback despite being three pioneers who have not mastered the art of fusion yet. Both social and historical backgrounds intertwined in their works to show that music could go beyond a mere listening experience and actually tell a compelling, detailed story.
As for the key differences between Gottschalk and Beach and Paine, one could highlight the high amount of Latin American motifs in the former’s compositions. The amount of sentiment included in Gottschalk’s works was unmatched since he was rather inventive with his style in order to step away from harmonies and appeal to the popular taste instead. Beach’s compositions mostly featured European and African motifs, setting her works apart due to a completely different cultural background. Beach wrote music with the notion of national identity in mind and tried to invest even more cultural content in most of her compositions. Speaking of Paine, his unwillingness to switch to the contemporary American style allowed him to follow his German traditions and compose music while looking back at the value of chromaticism as well.
All three composers brought something new to the definition of classical music while absolutely opposing one in terms of cultures and backgrounds involved in the process of constituting sounds into harmonious sound forms.