his _Br'er Rabbit_ creation, and it is certainly one of the most
delightful of all his brighter compositions; the humour is so
droll and so characteristic of himself.

3. _Of Salamanders (As delicately as possible)._ This is a
fanciful, intricate piece, but very delicate in effect. It is
technically difficult to play, requiring an absolute control of
finger work. It was rather a favourite with the composer. 4. _A
Haunted House (Mysteriously)._ This is one of the most imaginative
and realistic of MacDowell's smaller pianoforte pieces. It opens
_very dark and sombre_, developing into a wild and eerie
_fortissimo_. The middle section requires swiftness of finger work
to suggest the nervous expectancy aroused by the preceding
mysteriousness. The ghost-like effect returns, then gradually
recedes again into impenetrable gloom.

6. _By Smouldering Embers (Musingly)._ This opens with a quiet,
tender theme after the style of _An Old Love Story_. The piece is
quite short, but displays a mastery both of harmony and
counterpoint. The music is grave and deep, but very tender. The
little middle section stands out in its almost passionate, but
sonorous and controlled emotion. Toward the end, the music
becomes very moving and subdued, dying away with careful and
sensitive tone reduction. The impression left by this piece, and
by the _Fireside Tales_ as a whole, is that the composer was
conscious of a heavy responsibility in his work; that he felt, as
Elgar has explained, that "the creative artist suffers in
creating, or in contemplating the unending influence of his
creation ... for even the highest ecstacy of 'Making' is mixed
with the consciousness of the sombre dignity of the eternity of