Chapter VI: Book I: , is another piece of imperfectly realised suggestive tone (2)

2. The second movement opens with a theme of tender beauty. It develops into passionate strength, involving much intricacy of writing and wide spread chordal work.

3. The third and last movement (it will be noted that MacDowell abandons the scherzo movement in this sonata, as it had proved an _aside_ in the two earlier ones) is impetuous and, as it proceeds, becomes increasingly difficult to play. The theme of the second movement is recalled in a passage of extreme pathos. The final coda is most impressive, beginning _Dirge-like_--_very heavy and somber_; five bars from the end there is a moment's silence, and then the opening theme of the first movement rings out and the sonata ends with the utmost breadth and strength.

OPUS 58. THREE SONGS, FOR VOICE AND PIANOFORTE.

_First Published_, 1899 (Arthur P. Schmidt).

1. _Constancy_ (_New England, A.D. 1899_).

2. _Sunrise._

3. _Merry Maiden Spring._

The verses of these songs are MacDowell's own, and both words and music here go to make up song writing of an order that is rare in its beauty of expression, tender thought and pure lyricism.

In _Constancy_ (_New England, A.D. 1899_), indicated _Simply, but with deep feeling_, we have one of MacDowell's best songs. It has a tenderness and wistfulness about it that is irresistible, and sung in the spirit of its words, which tell of an empty house and neglected garden, it is a very beautiful thing.

_Sunrise_, marked _With power and authority_, is short and tells of the sorrowful spectacle of a wrecked and broken ship. The actual scene, however, seems secondary to its own significance as a symbol of human life. The music is heavy after the style of certain of the composer's pianoforte _Sea Pieces_ (_Op_. 55).

The third and last song, _Merry Maiden Spring_, is charming, with a singularly bright and captivating freshness. It is indicated to be sung _Lightly, gracefully_.

OPUS 59. FOURTH SONATA, KELTIC, IN E MINOR, FOR PIANOFORTE.

_First Published_, 1901 (Arthur P. Schmidt).

_Dedicated to Edvard Grieg_.

1. _With great power and dignity_.

2. _With naive tenderness_.

3. _Very swift and fierce_.

The _Keltic Sonata_ is generally considered MacDowell's supreme achievement, the great culmination of his evolution toward musical expression of immense and rare power. The sonata is a work of great breadth and vitality, and has a sweep of line and noble beauty of expression that is only equalled in the supreme efforts of genius, such as Beethoven's _Appassionata_ sonata for instance. It is a most superb poetical romance, full of the passion and heroic fervour of the Celtic strain in MacDowell's own nature. It searched out his finest and deepest inspiration when he wrote it and it grew to be part of his very being afterwards. The whole thing is a reflection of the heroic and stirring romances in Celtic legend. It is full of a wild beauty and sorrow, and carries us back to those far-off days when men lived the lives that now to us seem mythical. The graduations of tone in the sonata range from _pppp_ to _ffff_, and although its technical difficulties are considerable, they are worth conquering, which is more than can be said of many things over which the modern pianist takes infinite pains. The virtuoso aspect of the _Keltic_ sonata, however, is always lost in the magnificent spirit of the music. All MacDowell's finest works require not mechanical technique only, but deep intellectual and poetical thought to bring out their finest qualities.

1. From the first bars the majesty of the work becomes apparent. The first movement as a whole is full of the fire of Celtic inspiration, tinged with a wild and piercing sorrow. The final page of it contains music of stupendous power, and the limit of extremity of tone contrast is reached in the two last bars, one of which is to be played _pppp_ and the other _ffff_.

2. The second movement opens with a tender and exquisite beauty, but the music soon becomes impassioned, the dominant mood being that wild sorrow we have already referred to.

3. The final movement is generally dark and fierce, moving swiftly and of great technical difficulty. Near the end we notice the direction, _Gradually increasing in violence and intensity_, and later an unforgettable passage occurs _With tragic pathos_. The sonata ends with a fierce rush, of enormous and elemental power. The key to the meaning of the _Keltic_ sonata is given in some lines of his own which MacDowell placed at its head, but they are only part of all that he expressed in it. They should be read together with the lines entitled _Cuchullin_ in the book of his verses. _Cuchullin_ was considered unconquerable and even his form, when at last frozen in death, awed all who saw it; and it is of the might and tragedy of this old figure in Celtic legend that the sonata seems to tell. The final pages of the last movement may be considered as a vivid expression of the scene which Standish O'Grady, whose work MacDowell loved, has so superbly described:--"Cuculain sprang forth, but as he sprang, Lewy MacConroi pierced him through the bowels. Then fell the great hero of Gael. Thereat the sun darkened, and the earth trembled ... when, with a crash, fell that pillar of heroism, and that flame of the warlike valour of Erin was extinguished." The stricken warrior made his way painfully to a tall pillar, the grave of some bygone fighter, and tied himself to it, dying with his sword in his hand and his terrifying helmet flashing in the sun. In O'Grady's words:--"So stood Cuculain, even in death-pangs, a terror to his enemies, for a deep spring of stern valour was opened in his soul, and the might of his unfathomable spirit sustained him. Thus perished Cuculain." ... Superb as these lines are, they are equalled in expression by the music of MacDowell's _Keltic_ sonata.

OPUS 60. THREE SONGS, FOR VOICE AND PIANOFORTE.

_First Published_, 1902 (Arthur P. Schmidt).

1. _Tyrant Love._

2. _Fair Springtide._

3. _To the Golden-rod._

This is the last song group that MacDowell published. It contains music of great charm and poetic beauty, with a grave tenderness that was ever his own. The verses are all from his pen and show his unusual literary gifts.

_Tyrant Love_ (_Lightly, yet with tenderness_). This is the least fine of the three, and yet in itself it is a song of rare quality and far above the commonplace. The music is beautiful, although not free from distortion of the words.

_Fair Springtide_ (_Very slow, with pathos_). This is one of the best and most mature of MacDowell's songs. It makes a lovely solo, full of sweet and tender sadness, seldom failing to move its hearers. Both as regards words and music, it comes straight from the soul of its composer.

_To the Golden-rod_ (_With tender grace_). This is a pure and delectable piece of lyrical work, in MacDowell's most delightful style. The verse tells of a lissom maid whose wayward grace neither sturdy Autumn nor the frown of Winter can ever efface. The words are obviously fanciful, but the song has a graceful charm and fragrance.

OPUS 61. FIRESIDE TALES, FOR PIANOFORTE.

_First Published_, 1902 (Arthur P. Schmidt).

_Dedicated to Mrs. Seth Low_.

1. _An Old Love Story._

2. _Of Br'er Rabbit._

3. _Of Salamanders._

4. _A Haunted House._

5. _By Smouldering Embers._

These pieces show a significant change in the voice of MacDowell. A certain strange, farawayness of thought is apparent, and a grave tenderness that is not quite like anything he had previously written. The fine beauty of the previous short pieces here gives way to a new kind of serious and even sombre aspect, and indeed the composer seems to have entered on a new period. Unfortunately the next work after these _Fireside Tales_ is the last music he published, and so the certainty of the commencement of a new period cannot definitely be established. The writing is much more masterly than in any of the earlier short pieces, including the _Sea Pieces_, even though these have greater spirit.

1. _An Old Love Story (Simply and tenderly)._ This opens with the familiar flowing type of MacDowell melody, but with the succeeding section in D flat major, marked _ppp_, comes in a new and earnest expressiveness. After this the opening theme returns and the piece ends tenderly and subdued. _An Old Love Story_ is, on the whole, quite characteristic, and certainly very beautiful. It seems to bring with it an atmosphere of fading, but still cherished, bygone happiness, and its thought is tender and wistful.

2. _Of Br'er Rabbit (With much spirit and humour--lightly)._ This opens with a roguish and catching tune which is brilliantly worked out with much variety, droll humour, and masterly skill. The piece has, of course, an affinity with _From Uncle Remus (Woodland Sketches, Op. 51_), since Br'er Rabbit is Uncle Remus' chief hero; but the maturity and masterly handling of the material in _Of Br'er Rabbit_ is unquestionably finer than anything in the earlier piece. MacDowell had much affection for his _Br'er Rabbit_ creation, and it is certainly one of the most delightful of all his brighter compositions; the humour is so droll and so characteristic of himself.

3. _Of Salamanders (As delicately as possible)._ This is a fanciful, intricate piece, but very delicate in effect. It is technically difficult to play, requiring an absolute control of finger work. It was rather a favourite with the composer. 4. _A Haunted House (Mysteriously)._ This is one of the most imaginative and realistic of MacDowell's smaller pianoforte pieces. It opens _very dark and sombre_, developing into a wild and eerie _fortissimo_. The middle section requires swiftness of finger work to suggest the nervous expectancy aroused by the preceding mysteriousness. The ghost-like effect returns, then gradually recedes again into impenetrable gloom.

6. _By Smouldering Embers (Musingly)._ This opens with a quiet, tender theme after the style of _An Old Love Story_. The piece is quite short, but displays a mastery both of harmony and counterpoint. The music is grave and deep, but very tender. The little middle section stands out in its almost passionate, but sonorous and controlled emotion. Toward the end, the music becomes very moving and subdued, dying away with careful and sensitive tone reduction. The impression left by this piece, and by the _Fireside Tales_ as a whole, is that the composer was conscious of a heavy responsibility in his work; that he felt, as Elgar has explained, that "the creative artist suffers in creating, or in contemplating the unending influence of his creation ... for even the highest ecstacy of 'Making' is mixed with the consciousness of the sombre dignity of the eternity of the artist's responsibility."

OPUS 62. NEW ENGLAND IDYLS, FOR PIANOFORTE.

_First Published_, 1902 (Arthur P. Schmidt).

1. _An Old Garden_.

2. _Mid-Summer_.

3. _Mid-Winter_.

4. _With Sweet Lavender_.

5. _In Deep Woods_.

6. _Indian Idyl_.

7. _To an Old White Pine_.

8. _From Puritan Days_.

9. _From a Log Cabin_.

10. _The Joy of Autumn_.

This album is the last work MacDowell published. It contains, not only some of his most beautiful and advanced lyrical tone poems, but, in _Mid-Winter_ and _From a Log Cabin_, two of the most significant and inspired of all his shorter pieces. In the _New England Idyls_ as a whole, we have the eloquence and poetry of MacDowell in its fullest maturity. The American atmosphere is strong in these pieces, the scene suggested by each one belonging unmistakably to New England. In addition to the expressive and suggestive power of these idyls, they possess a fragrance and freshness that are rare in music. Each piece is headed by a verse of the composer's, and it should also be noted that he has dropped his English directions as to expression, etc., and gone back to Italian. There is no great gain in this, for the terms he uses, although in the language traditionally employed for the purpose, are by no means always the actual terms of traditional standing; he simply took the unnecessary trouble to translate his English-thought directions into a foreign language. His Italian is not always that generally used in music.

1. _An Old Garden_ (_Semplice, teneramente_). This opens with an expressive and tender little theme. In the middle part a beautifully formed lyricism appears. The opening theme eventually reappears and the piece ends with quiet, but rich and sonorous chords.

2. _Mid-Summer_ (_Come in sogno_). This is a tone impression of a drowsy summer's day:--

... _Above, the lazy cloudlets drift,
Below, the swaying wheat_....

It is exquisitely done, with the composer's usual unerring instinct for creating atmosphere. The technical mastery is finer than that shown in the _Woodland Sketches_, and the tonality ranges in the thirty-six bars of its length from _fortissimo_ to softly breathed _ppp_, and at the end even _pppp_.

3. _Mid-Winter_ (_Lento_). Here we find a piece of dramatic significance and great power. Its deeper meaning is expressed in the verses that head it:--

_In shrouded awe the world is wrapped,
The sullen wind doth groan,
'Neath winding-sheet the earth is stone,
The wraiths of snow have flown_.

_And lo! a thread of fate is snapped,
A breaking heart makes moan;
A virgin cold doth rule alone
From old Mid-winter's throne_.

The piece opens with an impressive theme uttered _ppp_. The whole atmosphere soon becomes one of vast and solemn content, rising to an intense short outburst. Soon a new and rather bleak theme is heard with mournful, clashing harmonies; the whole effect is vividly recalled in _From a Log Cabin_, No. 9 of these idyls, the only piece in the set to equal this one in force. After some commentary, a series of three rushing, ascending scale passages are introduced, beginning _pppp_, then gradually becoming louder until they culminate on high and powerful chords. The opening theme reappears at the height of the climax and is expressed with passionate intensity. Gradually the music dies solemnly away again. The whole of this piece appears very different to anything of MacDowell's earlier work; its deep and almost fateful significance, together with its problematical character, is a bid for something even greater than the _Sea Pieces_ (_Op_. 55).

4. _With Sweet Lavender_ (_Molto tenero e delicato_). This piece opens with a tender and expressive theme, which is one of the most beautiful of the composer's inspirations. The passage marked _la melodia con molto_ introduces that new and deeper note which is a feature in MacDowell's last two pianoforte albums. It breaks out presently into passionate longing, but the return of the sweet opening theme, _ppp motto delicato_, brings the feeling of quiet wistful contemplation back again. The verses at the head of the piece attribute its mood to the reading of a packet of old love letters.

5. _In Deep Woods_ (_Largo impressivo_). This opens with loud and resounding chords, expressive of the majesty and beauty of American forests. At the eleventh bar a lovely theme enters, and the music from now onwards is written on four staves, but is always clear and fresh. As the full grandeur of the woods is felt, the theme takes on a splendid exultation, gradually sinking away as:--

... _The mystery of immortal things
Broods o'er the woods at eve_.

The piece was one of the composer's favourites; he inscribed its opening bar on a portrait of himself which he gave to Mr. W.W.A. Elkin, his London publisher and friend.

6. _Indian Idyl_ (_Leggiero, ingenuo_). This is a lovely tone poem, opening with a characteristic little figure reminiscent of the opening of the _Love-Song_ in the _Indian Suite for Orchestra_ (_Op_. 48). The theme is punctuated by little flute-like embellishments. The middle section, _poco piu lento_, is idyllic, with a perfectly balanced, swaying rhythm. In playing this portion, the left hand should describe an equal series of semicircles as it alights first on the low chord, and then on the single note two octaves higher. The opening theme returns with the flute-like embellishments prominent, but all heard softly, as from

... _afar through the summer night
Sigh the wooing flutes' soft strains_.

7. _To an Old White Pine_ (_Gravemente con dignità_). The characteristic feature of this piece is its sense of alternate mounting and declining strength. At about the middle of the movement a deeper solemnity is noticed, in a passage suggesting the _swaying, gentle forest trees_ that whisper at the feet of the huge old pines of an American forest. Some expressive and ingenious little woodland touches are included in the quiet concluding bars.

8. _From Puritan Days_. "_In Nomine Domini_" (_Con enfasi smisurata_). A stern theme opens this piece, while a passage marked _implorando_ seems to suggest the pious attitude of the immortal founders of the New England States. Soon the music becomes hurried and more impassioned, the pious, despairing motive being prominent. The opening theme is now thundered out _fortissimo_ and the piece ends with a sense of stern and rock-like strength of character.

9. _From a Log Cabin_ (_Con profondo espressione_). This piece, which should be played with great expression, stands on a level with _Mid-Winter_, No. 3 in this album. It strikes the new and sombre note already referred to and carries with it a sense of deep and vast import. The composer's unerring feeling for atmosphere is given full play. The piece as a whole is deep and problematic. The lines at its head:

_A house of dreams untold_,
_It looks out over the whispering tree-tops
And faces the setting sun_.

refer to MacDowell's log-cabin in which he used to compose, and they are the same that are inscribed over his grave. _From a Log Cabin_ opens quietly, with a grave theme and a clashing accompaniment that produces a different effect to that of any of the composer's earlier work, but recalls vividly the bleak second theme of _Mid-Winter_. Some powerful though small climaxes may be noticed, and then a new theme is heard softly, _con tenerezza, pensieroso_, over a florid accompaniment. After this has run its course, it is followed by intensely passionate outbursts of sorrow, the whole culminating in a thunderous repetition of the first theme. This reappears with great solemnity, which is emphasized by tolling, drum-like strokes, in the bass. The close is mysterious and impressive; the widespread chords, the wailing, clashing discords in the final bar but one, and the far away last chord, _pppp_, all tend to increase the depth and mystery of the piece. _From a Log Cabin_ is an inspired tone poem suggesting the atmosphere of a quiet evening in the woods, with the slow setting of the sun in the Golden West; a scene by which Nature often creates the sense of the mysterious more impressively and truly than any man-made attempts can equal. This view of declining day, the gradual shutting off of light and life, was strangely prophetic when MacDowell wrote it, for his own end came by a similar process in the form of an ever deepening gloom fatalling obscuring his mental light.

10. _The Joy of Autumn_ (_Allegro vivace_). This is a splendidly exhilarating piece and the longest by far of the set. The music leaps along with the sheer joy of living, the themes being singularly fresh and bright. The whole number is written in a brilliant and masterly manner, requiring a polished pianoforte technique to secure its full effect, especially in the exultant whirl and rush in the final page. A comparison of this piece with the _In Autumn_ of the _Woodland Sketches_ (_Op_. 51) makes the great advancement of MacDowell in the technique of composition obvious even to the tyro. _The Joy of Autumn_ is one of the most brilliant and spontaneous things in modern music; it is never commonplace, it is always MacDowel-like in spirit and artistic worth, and shows its author at the height of his maturity. With this joyous and beautiful piece, MacDowell bade farewell to his God-given creative art. Happily he did not know at the time that _From a Log Cabin_ was to prove a truer-expression of his future; a prophetic description of the tragic end of his life.

WORKS WITHOUT OPUS NUMBERS

SIX LITTLE PIECES ON SKETCHES FOR PIANOFORTE, BY J.S. BACH,

Published by Arthur P. Schmidt.

1. _Courante_.

2. _Menuet_.

3. _Gigue_.

4. _Menuet_.

5. _Menuet_.

6. _Marche_.

These are illuminating little MacDowell-like adaptations of some sketches by "one of the world's mightiest tone poets," as MacDowell described J.S. Bach. They are charmingly and cleverly written, although not always satisfying, it is to be feared, to the strict purist.

FROM THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY (TRANSCRIPTIONS FOR PIANOFORTE OF HARPSICHORD AND CLAVICHORD PIECES).

Published by Arthur P. Schmidt.