It was 'the Germans' ~ not that Germany, as such, existed in their day; but they all spoke the language, and were active there or next door in Austria ~ who drove the development of the Symphony, and of instrument engineering, and of the repertoire which that opened up. Indeed, those culturally unattuned to Western classical music may simplistically assume that 'dead white Germans' were at the root of the whole thing. Let's dust them down and see how much you already know about these major figures and their works!