Between the mid-eighteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, 19th-Century Music encompasses all areas of Western art music. 1789-1919 (and maybe beyond), and is open to research incorporating both the heritage and legacy of the century's music, including sound recording, cinema, and performance practice. It is important to distinguish this period from other periods called "the nineteenth century", such as the 1890s or the 1950s. While there were many musicians active during these times, they do not form a single movement or style of music. Rather, they inhabit different disciplines within music: jazz has improvisation and popular songs with words; classical music has symphonies by Beethoven and Mendelssohn. The first half of the nineteenth century saw the rise of musical nationalism in Europe. Composers began to seek out national audiences by writing music that would be understood by people in their own countries. This led to many similarities between national styles of music, although they also had much to differ from one another. For example, French and German opera share many elements, but they are still distinct forms of entertainment. Toward the end of the century, international music began to influence European composers, most notably in the form of American music. The second half of the nineteenth century was dominated by two world wars and an economic depression.