Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), Transition: Fall to Winter, 1949; watercolor with gouache, graphite and ink on paper, 16 x 48 inches; Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA, gift of Zelda L.M. and I. Arthur Schneiderman, 1998.82
Charles Burchfield. Journals, October 26, 1949
Thursday, Oct 27, 2016
A water-color (16 x 48) of the transition of Fall to Winter. – which I have been dreaming about ever since the Art School Days. A fantasy – it came off very well. The final form came to me as I lay listening to Sunday’s concert.
[Sunday, Oct. 23: P.M. Concert – a one-movement symphony #3 by Glière – with some beautiful passages, then an “Echo” Nocturne by Mozart which (to me) was very unusual–called a serenade (?) for four orchestras. Originally the orchestras were in the palace & palace grounds at varying distances from the audience.
Stokowski tried (and it seemed to me successfully) to produce the same effect in the concert hall by having one of his groups forward on the stage & the second one back, the third just outside in the winds & the last down a corridor. The effect was very enchanting, and the music itself, (no matter how it might have been played) was beautiful. The concert closed with the Beautiful Blue Danube Waltz in honor of the 50th anniversary of the death of Strauss-]
Charles Burchfield. October 26, 1949