Edward MacDowell . ; nor of themelodic outline, which is subtly yet frankly modelled ;and the individuality does not lie in any eccentricityor determined novelty of effect. Both the flavourof simplicity and of personality are, one concludes,more a spiritual than an anatomical possession ofthe music. Its quality is as intangible and pervasiveas that dim magic of il unremembering remem-brance that is awakened in some by the troublingtides of spring ; it is apparently as unsought for asare the naive utterances of folk-song. It is hisunfailing charm, and it is everywhere manifest inhis later work
Edward MacDowell . ; nor of themelodic outline, which is subtly yet frankly modelled ;and the individuality does not lie in any eccentricityor determined novelty of effect. Both the flavourof simplicity and of personality are, one concludes,more a spiritual than an anatomical possession ofthe music. Its quality is as intangible and pervasiveas that dim magic of il unremembering remem-brance that is awakened in some by the troublingtides of spring ; it is apparently as unsought for asare the naive utterances of folk-song. It is hisunfailing charm, and it is everywhere manifest inhis later work : that spontaneity and insouciance,that utter absence of self-consciousness, which is innothing so surprising as in its serene antithesis towhat one has come to accept—too incuriously, it maybe—as the dominant accent of musical modernity. These pieces have an inescapable fragrance, ten-derness, and zest. To a Wild Rose, Will o theWisp, In Autumn, From Uncle Remus, and By a Meadow Brook are slight in poetic sub-. A VIEW OF THE GARDEN AT PETERBORO A MATURED IMPRESSIONIST 55 stance, though executed with charm and humour ;but the five other pieces — At an Old TrystingPlace/ From an Indian Lodge/ To a Water-lily, A Deserted Farm, and Told at Sunset —are of a different calibre. With the exception of To a Water-lily, whose loveliness is apparent andunconcealed, these tone poems in little are a curiousblend of what, for an apter name, one must callnature-poetry, and psychological suggestion. Atan Old Trysting Place, From an Indian Lodge,A Deserted Farm, and Told at Sunset implya consecutive dramatic purpose which is emphasisedby their connection through a hint of thematic com-munity. The element of drama, though, is notinsisted upon — indeed, a large portion of thesearching charm of these studies lies in their tactfulreticence : MacDowell here makes no attempt tocrowd upon a canvas designedly restricted thefulness of detail and colour which he can, uponoccasion, present. In t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondon, bookyear190
