Answer: Even English-speakers with a modicum of German can hear the difference between the lilting, almost musical tones of Austrian German versus the less lilting, more crisp sound of standard German (Hochdeutsch). Bavarian, on the other hand, is very similar to Austrian.
Both nations historically spoke the same language (German), so in that sense sometimes an Austrian (in many cases, a Viennese) composer might be regarded as German. The German nation we know today and who fought France and England in both world wars was originally Prussia and several other small German-speaking states located in northern European east of France. Austria was another German speaking confederation of lands that later became the Austro-Hungarian Empire and basically controlled the southern half of central/eastern Europe, extending from Prague and Cracow in the North to the Adriatic Sea in the South. The Hapsburgs controlled it for the most part. The term 'German' when used to describe music likely refers to the language, regardless of whether it was a composer working in Berlin (Germany) or Vienna (Austria).
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