Meteorological Phenomena in Western Classical Orchestral Music

Meteorological phenomena in Western classical orchestral music Karen L. Aplin1 and Paul included only if other types of weather are to represent different meteorological events 2 represented in the same piece of music. will be discussed in more detail later in this D. Williams Vocal music has been excluded for a article. 1Department of Physics, University number of reasons. First, this restriction Another form of music which can explic- of Oxford reduces the number of works discussed: itly refer to weather is the ‘tone poem’. This 2Department of Meteorology, University inclusion of more musical genres would pro- is similar to programmatic music, but the of Reading duce a much longer list. Second, words in image intended is often referred to in the a piece of music also lead to a fundamental title of the piece without defining a change in character, since the music then sequence of events as clearly as programme Introduction becomes more specifically associated with music. An example of a tone poem is Out the words than is possible with a purely of the Mist by Elkington, a twentieth-century Weather Weather – November 2011, Vol. 66, No. 11 Depictions of the weather are common throughout the arts. For example, there has instrumental piece. Orchestral sections of British (female) composer. Operatic inter- been much discussion of meteorological vocal pieces, such as operas, and pieces that ludes that have become successful as stand- phenomena in the work of painters such as include voices but not words, have been alone orchestral pieces often include explicit Monet and Constable (e.g. Thornes, 1999; included. Finally, the use in orchestral music references to weather because of the asso- Baker and Thornes, 2006). Weather has also of a core group of instruments, which has ciation of one tune or theme with a particu- featured prominently in ballet: William changed relatively little since the Baroque lar part of the plot. Storms seem especially Forsythe reportedly spent a lot of time out- era, enables common themes to be identi- popular, which could be related to their use doors, observing cloud formations and light fied in the use of orchestration (i.e. different as a dramatic device to mark a transition or changes, as inspiration for his work Three instruments or combinations of instru- to evoke some inner turbulence of a major Atmospheric Studies (Siegmund, 2005). Such ments) to represent varying weather character. Examples of musical storms can meteorological influences were discussed at conditions. be found in Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea a four-day conference on The seasons in Interludes from the opera Peter Grimes, and poetry, music and art, held in Vienna in the Explicit and implicit references The Royal Hunt and Storm from Berlioz’s early 1980s (Wiesmann, 1985). opera The Trojans, which describes a sudden Despite these clear influences in other to weather in music summer rainstorm during which lovers out areas of the arts, there has been very little The form of allusion to meteorological phe- hunting take shelter in a cave to the accom- study of meteorological inspiration in nomena can vary. Explicit references can be paniment of plucking violins and violas Western classical music. As music lovers defined as occurring in pieces following a mimicking raindrops, whilst the storm sym- know, the hint of a distant storm from a few well-defined ‘programme’ representing par- bolizes their emotional turmoil (Kemp, timpani rolls can be as evocative as the cre- ticular scenes or events, specified by the 1988). puscular waves portrayed by Constable. The composer. Indeed, programme music has More subtle is the implicit evocation of ability of music both directly to mimic the itself been described as having been weather, often as part of a scene or land- sounds of the weather and indirectly to inspired by nature (Jones, 1990). A notable scape. The intended scene is sometimes imply its subtler moods perhaps gives this example is the Alpine Symphony by Richard referred to in the title of the music, or it can medium more scope for dramatic expres- Strauss, which describes a day when hikers be mentioned by the composer either at the sion than the visual arts and literature, climb a mountain, from the beginning of time of writing or subsequently. The impres- which unavoidably are limited to more lit- their journey at daybreak, ascending via sionistic music championed by Debussy fits eral interpretations. various landscapes and natural phenomena into this category, as do some of the tone This article is a study of the representation to encounter a sudden thunderstorm at the poems by the Finnish composer Sibelius. His of meteorological phenomena in classical summit, and finishing with their descent Night Ride and Sunrise does not appear spe- orchestral music, from the Baroque to the shortly before night falls. The different sec- cifically to recognize meteorological or opti- contemporary, which has been compiled tions of the (continuous) piece of music, cal phenomena in its title or musical score, over many years from a wide variety of each lasting a couple of minutes, are closely but Sibelius subsequently described being sources (principally orchestral perform- specified within the orchestral score and inspired by seeing the aurora from a sleigh ances, literature, recordings, and discussions form the titles of the different tracks of the ride in northern Finland (Grimley, 2004). An with professional and amateur musicians). recordings. Meteorological phenomena are example of the title summing up all that is We interpret ‘meteorological phenomena’ well represented in the Alpine Symphony, needed is the exuberant Troika from the widely, and include optical atmospheric both in the individual sections and in the Lieutenant Kije Suite by Prokofiev. The Troika effects, since these are reported by mete- chosen instrumentation: special instru- is a type of Russian sled, and this title is just orological observers when seen. Sunrise ments are added to the percussion section enough to conjure up images of a sleigh and sunset are defined as daily astronomical to add greater atmosphere (pun intended!) ride through thick snow in crisp winter 300 phenomena, and pieces depicting them are to the storm scenes. The instruments used woods. Part of the appeal of this implicit form of reference is that it is up to the lis- lightning. Sub-selection of storm types is category, although strictly it is the absence tener to generate a mental picture based possible because of the relatively large sam- of wind. on the music. Sometimes composers use ple size and the detail with which the musi- Sunshine is relatively unpopular with implicit references to depict climate, rather cal storms were specified. Six out of the composers, but some of the clearest musical Western classical orchestral music than weather. For example, several compos- eight frontal storms represented are defined representations of it are inspired by the ers were inspired by the seasons and wrote as storms at sea, with two linked to Mediterranean landscape. The best example eponymous pieces evoking this theme Shakespeare’s play The Tempest which is the Helios Overture by Nielsen, a musical rather than any specific meteorological phe- begins in this way. The two other storms can picture of a (sunny) day over an Aegean nomena. For example, the subtitle of be identified as frontal storms based on the island (although Nielsen later explained that Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony is Winter climates represented. Bax associated a the day also included rain, readily identified Daydreams. However, ‘season’ or ‘climate’ poem describing an autumnal storm in the in the recording from the plucked string music can also include explicit meteorologi- Chilterns with his November Woods instruments (Fanning, 1996)). Similarly, the cal references, as in the most well-known (Foreman, 2006) and Sibelius’ Tapiola is set Dyptique méditerranéen by French com- set of concertos by Vivaldi. in the high-latitude forests of northern poser Vincent d’Indy reflects the ‘Indian Another form of implicit reference is that Finland, where thunderstorms are rare (<0.5 summer’ of his final years by the Medi- Weather – November 2011, Vol. 66, No. 11 sometimes the meteorological links are lightning flashes km-2yr-1 (Mach et al., 2007)). terranean (Thomson, 2010). The sonnets made only after critiques or reviews are All of the convective storms can be identi- that Vivaldi chose to illustrate his Four published. One well-known example, away fied as occurring over land, except for the Seasons also conjure up the torpor of an from weather, is the Moonlight Sonata by Thunder and Lightning Polka which is the Italian summer’s day: In the torrid heat of the Beethoven, which was known simply as only non-programmatic thunderstorm and blazing sun, man and beast alike languish, Opus 27 no. 2 until the moonlight analogy possibly the only light-hearted representa- even the pine trees scorch (Anderson, 2009). was introduced some time later (Sobel, tion of a storm. Only one storm, in Rossini’s Interestingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, 2005). Another oblique reference is con- William Tell Overture, was of unclear type. We almost all the pieces in Table 1 depicting tained in Sibelius’ tone poem Tapiola. This believe it is more likely to be convective, as frontal storms are in minor keys and all the piece was intended by the composer to be the storm in the Swiss William Tell legend pieces depicting fair weather are in major a portrait of the mythical spirit of the Finnish (on which the opera is based) occurs over keys. The corresponding key analysis for the forest, but it has been described more Lake Lucerne, well within the central other weather categories in Table 1 is gener- recently as including a storm (Anderson, European land mass (Porter and Prince, ally inconclusive, with a mixture of major 2004; Grimley, 2004) and as a representation 2008).

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