Dec. 8. (Sun.)
An all Sibelius program by Toscanini last night, in honor of the composer’s birthday (which is today).
Symphony # 2 — Pohjola’s Daughter — The Swan of Tuonela — Return of Lemminkäinen — Finlandia.
Altho he played all of these superbly, the Swan of Tuonela affected me the most – (and he put new life into “Finlandia”
[Burchfield bracketed this next section in red pencil.]
After the concert I came out to the studio and wrote down the following: -
“Swan of Tuonela” — (as played by Toscanini – Dec. 7 – 1940)
The high quavering tones in the background — the elemental sounds of nature — the roar of a woods in November? — high tones from the Zenith looking north —?
(I think of the March days of 1917 — the telegraph harp out Ellsworth Rd. — North – coal mines – long level March sunlight over the bottoms — wet clay – blue clay gleaming in sunlight – sticky drip–drip–drip of water from the clay –)
As I wrote this a surge of home-sickness assailed — homesickness for my lost boyhood.
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A Sibelius concert by the N. Y. Philharmonic today – but due to the national championship football game somewhere or other we could not get it – So I played the 5th & the 7th as our own celebration, while Martha, Mary Alice & Catherine knitted or worked on a bed-spread.
— Charles E. Burchfield, December 8, 1940