elling
and went to London to buy furniture, for they had wearied of living in
pensions and hotels and had determined to set up housekeeping. When
they returned they hired a little flat in the Jahnstrasse and
installed themselves therewith just enough furniture to give them
countenance. Here Mrs. MacDowell suffered an illness which threatened
for a time to bring a tragic termination to their happiness, and
through which the hope of a child was lost to them.

[3] The published score of this opus bears the title (in German):
"Hamlet; Ophelia: Two Poems for Grand Orchestra." But MacDowell
afterward changed his mind concerning this designation, and preferred
to entitle the work: "First Symphonic Poem (a. 'Hamlet'; b. 'Ophelia')."
This alteration is written in MacDowell's handwriting in his copy of
the printed score. When "Lancelot and Elaine" was published three
years later it bore the sub-title: "Second Symphonic Poem."

One afternoon in the spring of 1887 MacDowell and his friend Templeton
Strong, a brilliant American composer who had recently moved from his
home in Leipzig to Wiesbaden, were tramping through the country when
they came upon a dilapidated cottage on the edge of the woods, in the
Grubweg. It had been built by a rich German, not as a habitation, but
as a kind of elaborate summer house. The situation was enticing. The
little building stood on the side of the Neroberg, overlooking the
town on one side, with the Rhine and the Main beyond, and on the other
side the woods. The two Americans were captivated by it, and nothing
would do but that MacDowell should purchase it for a home. There was
some question of its practicability by his cooler-headed wife; but
eventually the cottage was bought, with half an acre of ground, and
the MacDowells ensconced themselves. There was a small garden, in
which MacDowell delighted to dig; the woods were within a stone's
throw; and he and Strong, who were inseparable friends, walked
together and disputed amicably concerning principles and methods of
music-making, and the need for patriotism, in which Strong was
conceived to be deficient.

This was a time of rich productiveness for MacDowell; and the life
that he and his wife were able to live was of an ideal serenity and
detachment. He was now devoting his entire energy to composition. He
put forth during these years at Wiesbaden the four pieces of op. 24
("Humoresque," "March," "Cradle Song," "Czardas"); the symphonic poem
"L