accorded only to a popular prima donna at the opera, or to a
famous virtuoso of international reputation. The musical critics
generally agreed that the fine feeling and the power of the
concerto was as responsible for his remarkable success before the
critical Philharmonic audience as his playing of it. The
conductor was Anton Seidl.

A few months after the above event, MacDowell created a deep
impression in the same city by his playing of his _Sonata
Tragica, Op. 45_, and some smaller pieces.

In 1896 he bought some land near Peterboro, in the south of the
state of New Hampshire. In addition to a music room connected by
a passage with the house, he built a log cabin in the woods near
by, where he could compose in the solitude that was needed for
the transcribing of his dreams and inspirations into permanent
music form.

In the same year (1896) it was decided to found a department of
music at Columbia University, New York, and MacDowell, described
by the committee formed to appoint a Professor of Music as "the
greatest musical genius America has produced," was offered the
distinguished, but as it proved, laborious task of organising the
new department. After some hesitation he accepted the post, as it
would afford him an income free from the precariousness of
private teaching.

In a letter to the writer, Mrs. MacDowell says: "In taking the
position of Professor of Music at Columbia University, Mr.
MacDowell went into an environment quite different from anything