This paper will talk about three lesser known pieces by three composers of different backgrounds, each associated with one type of conflict. This program shows how conflict can be defined broadly in the musical world, which includes a composer’s response to an external political conflict as a kind of social commentary (Janáček), the internal conflict of a composer struggling with mental illness (Schumann), and a mixture of the two where a composer develops an eccentric mystical philosophy to deal with both real and imaginary conflicts and uses his music to express it (Scriabin). The three composers represent very distinct musical philosophies and styles but their music carries the same spirit of self-expression, especially when viewed through the lens of my topic. In this paper, I will link these pieces of music to each’s composition background and specific conflicts in order to explain how these three composers translated dramatic conflicts into their musical language.