The myth, sustained for more than 15 years, that Sibelius was still working on the symphony was, according to McKenna, a deliberate fiction: "To admit that he had stopped completely would be to admit the unthinkable—that he was no longer a composer".
O mito, prolongado durante máis de 15 anos, de que Sibelius estaba aínda a traballar na sinfonía foi, segundo McKenna, unha ficción deliberada: "Admitir que parara por completo sería admitir o impensable: que xa non era compositor".