The Sea Crossroads Festival of National Music and Dance from West European Countries, held on 26 June, was completely different. Ever since Peter the Great ?cut a window¦ on Europe, many countries have sent their representatives to the new Russian capital. The culture of the European powers, so respected by the young tsar, came in contact with Old Russian culture. Music and dance groups performed compositions from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries written in Scotland, England, Ireland, France and Italy, showing their mastery and knowledge of the folk and court culture of Western Europe.