The examination was oral and private, and when the door closed behind me Professor MacDowell, who was standing at the open window, turned with a smile and motioned me toward a chair.

In a pedagogic sense it was not a regular examination.

There was something beautifully human in the way the professor turned the traditional stiff and starched catechism into a delightfully informal chat, in which the faburden, the Netherland School, early notation, the great clavichord players, suites and sonatas, formed the main topics.

The questions were put in such an easy, charming way that I forgot to be frightened; forgot everything but the man who walked rapidly about the room with his hands in his pockets and his head tipped slightly to one side; who talked animatedly and looked intently at the floor; but the explanations and suggestions were meant for me.
When I tripped upon the beginning of notation for instruments, he looked up quickly and said, 'Better look that up again; that's important.' "At the lectures Professor MacDowell's aim had been to emphasise those things that had served to mark the bright spots in the growth and advancement of music as an intelligible language.

How well I recall my impression on the occasion of my first visit to the lectures, and afterwards! There was no evidence of an aesthetic side to the equipment of the lecture room.