But however this may be, it can be said of Mr. MacDowell that he has illustrated his talents as a composer in a wide variety of styles, and always in a delicate and finished manner. He is, therefore, a composer to be treated seriously, and to be looked up to as a master, with an expectation of even more beautiful and satisfactory works still to follow.
I. First Suite. Opus 10. Praeludium. Presto. Andantino and Allegretto. Intermezzo. Rhapsodie. Fugue. 2. Woodland Sketches. "To a Wild Rose." "Will o' the Wisp." "At an Old Trysting Place." "In Autumn." "From an Indian Lodge." "To a Water Lily." "From 'Uncle Remus'." "A Deserted Farm." "By a Meadow Brook." "Told at Sunset." 3. Two Songs from Opus 33. "Cradle Hymn." "Idyll." 4. Selections from Opus 39. "Romance." "Arabeske." "In the Forest." "Idylle." "Shadow Dance." "Witches' Dance." Opus 17, No. 2. 5. Eight Songs. Opus 47. "The Robin Sings in the Apple-tree." "Midsummer Lullaby." "Folk-song." "Confidence." "The West Wind Croons in the Cedar Trees." "In the Woods." "The Sea." "Through the Meadow." 6. Sonata, "Eroïca." Opus 30.
There is nothing especial in common between the composers here mentioned that they should be put together in one program, excepting the fact that they both live in Boston; nor, on the other hand, is there anything especially contrasting between them. For this reason I think it better to give the selections of the different composers separately, leaving the superintendent of the concert to arrange the program of selections in any order most pleasing to him.
Arthur Foote was born of a good New England family at Salem, Mass., March 5, 1853. He pursued the usual course of a well-bred New England boy, passing successively through the district school and academy, and at length graduated at Harvard in 1874. He had already made considerable study of music, both upon instruments and in theory, and under the competent instruction of Mr. Stephen A. Emery had made considerable progress in composition.
He now entered seriously upon the study of music, with the intention of making it a life-long profession. His teachers were Mr. B. J. Lang, in organ and pianoforte playing, and Prof. J. K. Paine, in composition. In 1875, after examination, he received from Harvard the degree of A.M. in music. Since 1876 he has been engaged as a successful teacher of the pianoforte in Boston, and since 1878 has been organist of the First Unitarian Church in Boston. In daily work, as an interesting and stimulating instructor in art, Mr. Foote leads an honored life; but he is better known to the outside world by his compositions, which indicate talent of a high order. The range of them and the variety are alike remarkable.