Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), Sunburst, 1929-31; oil on canvas, 35 1/2 x 47 1/2 inches; Burchfield Penney Art Center, Gift of Charles Rand Penney, 1994
Played the Sibelius Third tonight. In the latter part of the last movement, when he gets such a terrific bedlam going, (when you feel that gigantic forces of nature are engaged in a death struggle) you wonder how can he (Sibelius) possibly bring it all to a reasonable conclusion—end it with honor as it were—But he does with their powerful notes, like the blows of a huge hammer—a God pounding for silence.
Charles E. Burchfield, September 12, 1936