emes. Undoubtedly this habit of work had its value when he came to
the leisurely months of summer; for he did not then have to go through
a period of technical "warming up." There were many days when he did
not write a note, but he always intended to, and usually did. When he
was absorbed in a particular composition he kept at it, almost night
and day, save for the hours he always tried to spend in the open air,
and two hours in the evening when, no matter how late it might be, he
sat quietly with his wife, reading or talking, smoking, and, in
earlier days, enjoying a glass of beer and some food. His love of
reading was a godsend to him when the waters were more than usually
troubled and his brain was in a whirl.

In the actual work of composition he was elaborately meticulous--not
often to the extent of changing an original plan, but in minor
details; he never ceased working on a score until the music was out of
his hands, or entirely put aside. Sometimes he tried over a few
measures on the piano as many as fifty times, changing the value or
significance of a note; as a result, his piano writing is almost
always "pianistic." In one respect he was sometimes careless: in the
noting of the expression marks. By the time he arrived at that duty he
was usually tired out. For this reason, much in his printed music is
marked differently from the way he actually played it in concert. He
never, in performance, changed a note, save in a few of the earlier
pieces; but in details of expression he often departed widely from the
printed directions.

He was always profoundly absorbed when at work, though not to the
extent of being able to compose amid noise or disturbance. He needed
to isolate himself as much as possible; although, when it could not be
avoided, he contrived to work effectively under obstructive
conditions; the Largo of the "Sonata Tragica," for example, was
written in Boston when he was harassed by drudgery and care. During
the earlier days at Peterboro he composed in a music room which was
joined to the main body of the house by a covered passage; in this way
he could hear nothing of the household workings, and was unaware of
the chance caller. No one was ever allowed to intrude upon him, save
his wife. Yet certain outside noises were still apparent; so the log
cabin in the woods was built. There he used to go nearly every
morning, coming home when he felt disposed, and usually going to the
golf grounds for a game