Thus one finds, in the "Prologue," such unmistakable and illuminating directions as: "with sturdy good humour," "pleadingly," "mockingly"; in the "Soubrette"-- "poutingly"; in the "Lover"-- in the "Villain"-- "with sinister emphasis," "sardonically." This method, which MacDowell has followed consistently in all his later works, has obvious advantages; and it becomes in his hands a picturesque and stimulating means for the conveyance of his intentions.

Its defect, equally obvious, is that it is not, like the conventional Italian terminology, universally intelligible.
The "Twelve Studies" of op.

39 are less original in conception and of less artistic moment than the "Marionettes." Their titles--among which are a "Hunting Song," a "Romance," a "Dance of the Gnomes," and others of like connotation--suggest, in a measure, that imperfectly realised romanticism which I have before endeavoured to separate from the intimate spirit of sincere romance which MacDowell has so often succeeded in embodying.

The same thing is true, though in a less degree, of the suite for orchestra (op.

42).