They are sentimental and unleavened, and they are far from worthy of his gifts, though they are not without a certain rather inexpensive charm.
[Illustration: A WINTER VIEW OF THE PETERBORO HOUSE] The "Marionettes" of op.

38 are in a wholly different case.

Published first in 1888, the year of MacDowell's return to America, they were afterward extensively revised, and now appear under a radically different guise.

In its present form, the group comprises six _genre_ studies--"Soubrette," "Lover," "Witch," "Clown," "Villain," "Sweetheart"-- besides two additions: a "Prologue" and "Epilogue." Here MacDowell is in one of his happiest moods.

It was a fortunate and charming conceit which prompted the plan of the series, with its half-playful, half-ironic, yet lurkingly poetic suggestions; for in spite of the mood of bantering gaiety which placed the pieces in such mocking juxtaposition, there is, throughout, an undertone of grave and meditative tenderness which it is one of the peculiar properties of MacDowell's art to communicate and enforce.