In June, 1884, MacDowell returned to America, and on July 21, at Waterford, Connecticut, he was married to his former pupil, Miss Marian Nevins—­a union, which, for perfection of sympathy and closeness of comradeship, was, during the quarter of a century for which it was to endure, nothing less than ideal.  A few days later MacDowell and his bride sailed from New York for Europe, innocent of any very definite plans for the immediate future.  They visited Exeter and Bath, and then went to London, where they found lodgings at No. 5, Woburn Place.  There MacDowell’s interest in the outer world was divided between the British Museum, where he found a particular fascination in the Egyptian and Syrian antiquities, and the Shakespearian performances of Henry Irving and Ellen Terry.  He was captivated by their performance of “Much Ado About Nothing,” and made a sketch for a symphonic poem which was to be called “Beatrice and Benedick”—­a plan which he finally abandoned.  Most of the material which was to form the symphonic poem went ultimately to the making of the scherzo of the second piano concerto, composed during the following year.

Returning to Frankfort, MacDowell and his wife lived for a short time in a pension in the Praunheimer Strasse, keeping very much to themselves in two small rooms.  Upon their return from a brief excursion to Paris, they found less restricted quarters in the Hotel du Nord.  In September of this year MacDowell learned of an advantageous position that had been vacated at the Wuerzburg Conservatory, and, assisted by letters from Frau Raff, Marmontel (his former instructor at the Paris Conservatory), and the violinist Sauret, he sought the place.  But again, as at Frankfort three years before, his youth was in his disfavour, and he was courteously rejected.

[Illustration:  A LETTER FROM LISZT TO MACDOWELL ACCEPTING THE DEDICATION OF THE FIRST PIANO CONCERTO (SEE PAGE 19)]

The following winter was given over largely to composition.  The two-part symphonic poem, “Hamlet and Ophelia,” his first production of important significance, was composed at this time.  The “Drei Poesien” (op. 20) and “Mondbilder” (op. 21), both written for four-hand performance, also date from the winter of 1884-85, and the second piano concerto was begun.  The “Moon Pictures” of op. 21 ("The Hindoo Maiden,” “Stork’s Story,” “In Tyrol,” “The Swan,” “Visit of the Bear"), after Hans Christian Andersen, were at first intended to form a miniature orchestral suite; but an opportunity arose to have them printed as piano duets, and the orchestral sketches were destroyed—­a regrettable outcome, as it seems.