2. _Summer Idyl_.

3. _In October_.

4. _The Song of the Shepherdess_.

5. _Forest Spirits_.

This suite, although reminiscent of the nineteenth century German
romanticism amongst which MacDowell was educated, has an
atmosphere of its own that at once distinguishes it as an example
of the highly sensitive and suggestive tone poetry peculiar to
its composer. The work is very skilfully written and is
remarkable for its freshness and buoyancy of spirit. The scoring
is exquisite and always illustrative of the poetical subjects of
the suite. Each of the pieces has in its title a suggestion of a
scene of Nature, the first and last having also the fanciful and
imaginative atmosphere of folk-lore; this provided MacDowell with
a task in tone painting such as he loved. In _In a Haunted
Forest_ and _Forest Spirits_ we have examples of the romantic and
fanciful sort of tone poetry characteristic of the composer. In
the _Summer Idyl_, in the fine, mellow beauty of _In October_ and
in the lovely _Song of the Shepherdess_ we have MacDowell
composing in his beloved Nature style, although not in a manner
quite comparable with the pianoforte pieces, _Woodland Sketches,
Op. 51_, and _New England Idyls, Op. 62_. As a whole, the _First
Suite for Orchestra_ is not the finest of MacDowell's orchestral
works up to this stage, but it stands alone in the style of its
poetic subject matter. It has not the same bearing as _Hamlet and
Ophelia, Op. 22_, Lancelot and Elaine, Op. 25_, _Lamia, Op. 29_,