Canon
Where to start with MacDowell
Essential works to know this composer by — spread across their styles-
OrchestralPiano Concerto no. 2 in D minor, op. 23
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Keyboard10 New England Idyls, op. 62
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Vocal2 Northern Songs, for mixed voices, op. 43
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OrchestralSuite no. 2 in E minor, op. 48, "Indian"
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Keyboard12 Etudes, op. 39
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Keyboard12 Virtuoso Etudes, op. 46
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Keyboard2 Fantasiestücke, op. 17
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Vocal2 Old Songs, op. 9
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Vocal2 Songs, op. 34
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Vocal3 Lieder, op. 11
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Vocal3 Lieder, op. 12
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Vocal3 Lieder, op. 33
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Vocal3 Songs, op. 58
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Vocal3 Songs, op. 60
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Keyboard4 Forgotten Fairytales, op. 4
Listening guide
Hand-curated paths into MacDowell's catalogueMost Popular
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To a Wild Rose (from Woodland Sketches)
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Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor
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Woodland Sketches (complete)
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To a Water Lily
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Sea Pieces (piano)
Most Acclaimed
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Piano Sonata No. 2 ”Eroica”
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Sea Pieces
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New England Idylls
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Piano Concerto No. 2
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Piano Sonata No. 4 ”Keltic”
Most Weird
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Piano Sonata No. 4 ”Keltic”Celtic mythology — the most dramatic thing he wrote
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Indian Suite for orchestrauses Native American themes — unusual in 1895
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Piano Sonata No. 3 ”Norse”Norse mythology — Odin, runes
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Fireside Tales (piano)late melancholic miniatures — written as he was losing his mind
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Of Br\’er Rabbit (from Woodland Sketches)the most rhythmically unusual of the set
Similar composers
Same era, overlapping styles — by genre & period affinityWorks 38
- Orchestral
- Piano Concerto no. 2 in D minor, op. 23
- Suite no. 2 in E minor, op. 48, "Indian"
- Hamlet, op. helia, symphonic poems, op. 22
- Piano Concerto no. 1 in A minor, op. 15
- Romanze, for cello and orchestra, op. 35
- Suite no. 1 in A minor, op. 42
- Keyboard
- 10 New England Idyls, op. 62
- 12 Etudes, op. 39
- 12 Virtuoso Etudes, op. 46
- 2 Fantasiestücke, op. 17
- 4 Forgotten Fairytales, op. 4
- 4 Little Poems, op. 32
- 6 Fancies, op. 7
- Amourette, op. 1
- Etude de concert, op. 36
- Fireside Tales, op. 61
- First Modern Suite, op. 10
- In Lilting Rhythm, op. 2
- Marionettes, op. 38
- Piano Sonata no. 1 in G minor, op. 45, "Tragica"
- Piano Sonata no. 2 in G minor, op. 50, "Eroica"
- Piano Sonata no. 3 in D minor, op. 57, "Norse"
- Piano Sonata no. 4 in E minor, op. 59, "Keltic"
- Sea Pieces, op. 55
- Second Modern Suite, op. 14
- Serenade, op. 16
- Vocal
- 2 Northern Songs, for mixed voices, op. 43
- 2 Old Songs, op. 9
- 2 Songs, op. 34
- 3 Lieder, op. 11
- 3 Lieder, op. 12
- 3 Lieder, op. 33
- 3 Songs, op. 58
- 3 Songs, op. 60
- 4 Songs, op. 56
- 6 Love Songs, op. 40
- 8 Songs, op. 47
- From an Old Garden, op. 26 — Song cycle