This question is really weird.
The 5 composers didn't unite themselves. Each of them had an ideal and they came together because of that ideal. I think a were construction is perfectly plausible.
They were united by their love for the fatherland.
They united based on their love for the fatherland.
The 5 composers didn't unite themselves. Each of them had an ideal and they came together because of that ideal. I think a were construction is perfectly plausible.
They were united by their love for the fatherland.
They united based on their love for the fatherland.
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