Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

I think I shall get it for my present from Mart & Hank. Apr. 12—(Sat.) B & I up early (5:30) to make sandwiches for the trip Sally & Red’s moving trip to Morrisville. (Red had driven Cottrell’s station wagon on the night before). Hank & Art to bring the vehicle back—  To Sally’s—about an hour to pack the trailer etc. then they are off. Sally hated to go, & we hated to have them go. The weather is colder.  To fill the emptiness, B-M & I to the Buffalo in the P.M. to see Spike Jones and a movie “Fear in the Night” good entertainment— Hank and Art home by 9:30. By degrees we got out of them that the apartments were pretty crude and barren.  Apr. 13 (Sun.) A.M. Hank over—he and I return trailer to Buffalo and station wagon to Cottrell’s. Joseph refuses to accept anything for rental fee.  B-M & I to church.  P.M. N.Y. Philharmonic—Shostakovich Sixth & Stravinsky’s Fire Bird. Faultless playing—But the Shostakovich just seems like long-windedness about not very much. Listening to the Firebird I thought that some music is so inherently great that its quality would shine thru [sic] even a poor performance, whereas some music demands a perfect performance such as was given this suite, and I felt that less in the way of playing would rob this music of the illusion of greatness.