TOSCANINI
In later life, he will profess to dislike it,
this symphony from a besieged city,
this masterwork of human resilience
its score smuggled to the States
on microfiche, spy-story tradecraft
the order of the day. Still, it is his
the American broadcast premiere,
airwaves sending out not only
a symphony but the sense, building
like a storm, of history being made.
(Arturo Toscanini conducted the American broadcast premiere of Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony)
Neil Fulwood was born in Nottingham, England, where he still lives and works. He has three collections out with Shoestring Press: No Avoiding It, Can’t Take Me Anywhere and Service Cancelled, with a fourth scheduled for publication next year.