“Valse Triste” is frankly and gracefully autobiographical of Conner's Kansas boyhood. Here, the period of the 1940s of his source materials parallels his own life experiences. A line of dark, wet cars files across a flooded road; a man and a boy ceremoniously burn leaves; a businessman at his desk turns to look over his shoulder to the photo of a locomotive on the wall behind him; a medium shot of an engineer in the cab of his locomotive; a shard of rock shears from a quarry wall and plunges into water.... Anthony Reveaux Nostalgic recreation of dreamland Kansas 1947 in Toto. Theme music from “I Love a Mystery” radio programs (Jack, Doc, and Reggie confront the enigmatic lines of railroad trains, sheep, black cars, women exercising in an open field, grandma at the farm ...) Meanwhile, 13-year-old boy confronts reality. Sibelius grows old in Finland and becomes a national monument.