It was hard work between
the gifted teacher and his promising pupil, with no idea of romance;
but with her preparations for her return to America, at the expiration
of three years, came the revelation to each of the meaning of the
impending separation, and in a twelvemonth after her departure he went
to New York and returned to Germany with his bride, settling at
Wiesbaden, where they spent some ideal years. While he began his
career as a composer in that inspiring atmosphere and won a hearing
and a verdict that opened the way to fame, it was after his return to
America that he did his best work, when he freed himself from the
chance of unconscious imitation and reflection and gave rein to
individuality and imagination in the Peterboro retreat. Weber says:
"To be a true artist you must be a true man." This tribute has been
paid MacDowell by his associates: they say he was a true man.
Nobleness has been called the chief characteristic alike of himself
and his music, with a simplicity that is ever the accompaniment of
real nobility. In playing, he had certain little tricks of using his
fingers that produced certain effects, but he did not teach these to
his pupils, preferring that they should use their own ingenuity,
explaining: "You might find a better way than mine," showing a modest
willingness to be taught, even by his own pupils, instead of always
posing as master.
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