Destroyed by the Composer.



OPUS 9. TWO OLD SONGS, FOR VOICE AND PIANOFORTE.

_First Published_, 1894. (Arthur P. Schmidt).

1. _Deserted_.

2. _Slumber Song_.

The _Two Old Songs, Op. 9_, head the list of MacDowell's
published works with opus numbers. Their position in it, however,
is somewhat misleading to the casual observer of the composer's
artistic development, for they are the fruits of a mature period
and were given the opus number they bear only as a matter of
convenience. They were composed about ten or eleven years after
the songs of Ops. 11 and 12, which in comparison with the _Two
Old, Songs_ are weak and devoid of individuality and originality.
The _Two Old Songs_ are very beautiful and expressive, exhibiting
the composer's melodic gift.

_Deserted_ is a setting of Robert Burns's lines, "Ye banks and
braes o' bonnie Doon." It is one of the most expressive of
MacDowell's songs, being full of deep and very human pathos. The
melody is one of the most poignant he set down, but it is
subjected to repetition that becomes monotonous. The song is
expressively indicated _Slow: With pathos, yet simply_.