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Praise for the late Stowell Goding I never had a French class with Stowell Goding, whose obituary appeared in the July 28 Chronicle. However, I took his music appreciation course both semesters of my senior year at Massachusetts State College (1944-45). I was told that it was a very difficult course that required a lot of work. I loved it. Dr. Goding made the music of the classical composers come alive and that background has stayed with me for the rest of my life. Yes, the first semester we had to turn in papers on the history of the various groupings of instruments in the orchestra: strings, brass, etc., also the piano. The final was identifying the instruments from recordings. Remember, this was in the days of the old 78s, when many records had to be changed to play a symphony. The second semester we had to write biographies of the early composers. We never had a deadline, could turn them in when they were completed. I respected that because Dr. Goding treated us as adults. We were still responsible for one biography a week, but they could all be handed in at once. Professor Goding was also interested in his students on a personal level and he was easy to talk to, and became our friend. When he knew I wanted to be a newspaper reporter, he suggested, "Why not try for radio?" And that is what I did and realized a job at WHAI in Greenfield after I graduated. I'm sure I never would have thought of that. Through the years I met Dr. Goding once in a while and most recently a couple years ago when he asked me to visit him in Leverett. A wonderful friend and scholar. IRMARIE JONES, |
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