Leader, FRANK THOMAS
Behind MacDowell the composer can always be heard MacDowell the poet. All his smaller pieces were written to express some thought, picture or feeling that, having its origin in poetry, could have found equal expression in the few lines of a lyric. The very titles arc suggestive, and make no promise that the music does not carry out. MacDowell loved Nature, preferred to have his dwelling in the. woods, and lived the life of a dreamer and idealist whenever his duties left him free to do so. Actually, he was a busy man, and, both practically and by example, gave considerable impetus to the progress of American composition and musical culture.