Edward MacDowell . l of his songs the voice ispredominant over the piano part—although he isfar, indeed, from writing mere accompaniments :the support which he gives the voice is consis-tently articulate and important, for he brings tobear upon it all his rich resources of harmoniccolour and significance. But though he makesthe voice the paramount element, he uses it, ingeneral, rather as a vehicle for the unconsciousexposition of a determined lyricism than as an un-deviating instrument of emotional utterance. Whenone thinks of how Hugo Wolf, for example, orDebussy, would have treated the phra
Edward MacDowell . l of his songs the voice ispredominant over the piano part—although he isfar, indeed, from writing mere accompaniments :the support which he gives the voice is consis-tently articulate and important, for he brings tobear upon it all his rich resources of harmoniccolour and significance. But though he makesthe voice the paramount element, he uses it, ingeneral, rather as a vehicle for the unconsciousexposition of a determined lyricism than as an un-deviating instrument of emotional utterance. Whenone thinks of how Hugo Wolf, for example, orDebussy, would have treated the phrase, to wakeagain the bitter joy of love/ in Fair Springtide, itwill be felt, I think, that MacDowells setting leavessomething to be desired on the score of emotionalverity, although the song, as a whole, is admirable—one of the loveliest and most spontaneous he haswritten. I do not mean to say that he does notoften achieve an ideal correspondence between thesignificance of his text and the effect of his music ;. o ^ THE SONGS 73 but when he does—as in, for instance, that superbtragedy in little, The Sea, * or in the still finer Sunrise f—ones impression is that it is thefortunate result of chance, rather than the outcomeof deliberate artistic purpose. It is in songs of anuntrammelled lyricism that his method finds itschief opportunity. In such he is both delightfuland satisfying—in, for instance, the six flower songs,From An Old Garden; in Confidence and In the Woods (opus 47); in The Swan bentlow to the Lily, A Maid Sings Light, and LongAgo (opus 56); and in the delectable To theGolden Rod, from his latest song group (opus 60).This is music of blithe and captivating allurement,of grave or riant tenderness, of compelling fasci-nation ; and in it, the word and the tone are ideallymated. Yet even in others of his songs in whichthey do not so consistently correspond, one mustacknowledge gladly the beauty and persuasivenessof the music itself: such music as he has given u
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