THE SONGS Any one who should undertake casually to examine MacDowell's songs _seriatim_, beginning with his earliest listed work in this form--the "Two Old Songs," op.

9--would not improbably be struck by an apparent lack of continuity and logic in the initial stages of his artistic development.

At first glance, MacDowell seems to have attained a phenomenal ripeness and individuality of expression in these songs, which head the catalogue of his published works; whereas the songs of the following opus (11-12) are conventional and unimportant.

The explanation, which I have elsewhere intimated, is simple.

The songs of op.