m mythical. The graduations of
tone in the sonata range from _pppp_ to _ffff_, and although its
technical difficulties are considerable, they are worth
conquering, which is more than can be said of many things over
which the modern pianist takes infinite pains. The virtuoso
aspect of the _Keltic_ sonata, however, is always lost in the
magnificent spirit of the music. All MacDowell's finest works
require not mechanical technique only, but deep intellectual and
poetical thought to bring out their finest qualities.

1. From the first bars the majesty of the work becomes apparent.
The first movement as a whole is full of the fire of Celtic
inspiration, tinged with a wild and piercing sorrow. The final
page of it contains music of stupendous power, and the limit of
extremity of tone contrast is reached in the two last bars, one
of which is to be played _pppp_ and the other _ffff_.

2. The second movement opens with a tender and exquisite beauty,
but the music soon becomes impassioned, the dominant mood being
that wild sorrow we have already referred to.

3. The final movement is generally dark and fierce, moving
swiftly and of great technical difficulty. Near the end we notice
the direction, _Gradually increasing in violence and intensity_,
and later an unforgettable passage occurs _With tragic pathos_.
The sonata ends with a fierce rush, of enormous and elemental
power. The key to the meaning of the _Keltic_ sonata is given in
some lines of his own which MacDowell placed at its head, but
they are only part of all that he expressed in it. They should be
read together with the lines entitled _Cuchullin_ in the book of
his verses. _Cuchullin_ was considered unconquerable and even his
form, when at last frozen in death, awed all who saw it; and it
is of the might and tragedy of this old figure in Celtic legend
that the sonata seems to tell. The final pages of the last
movement may be considered as a vivid expression of the scene
which Standish O'Grady, whose work MacDowell loved, has so
superbly described:--"Cuculain sprang forth, but as he sprang,
Lewy MacConroi pierced him through the bowels. Then fell the
great hero of Gael. Thereat the sun darkened, and the earth
trembled ... when, with a crash, fell that pillar of heroism, and
that flame of the warlike valour of Erin was extinguished." The
stricken warrior made his way painfully to a tall pillar, the
grave of some bygone fighter, and tied himself to it, dying with
hi