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 Depictions of the weather are common the words than is possible with a purely of the Mist by Elkington, a twentieth-century Weather – November 2011, Vol. 66, No. 11 66, No. Vol. 2011, – November Weather 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 orchestral music classical 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). The William Tell storm has therefore and minor keys being used. (Here, in the of the weather changing with the seasons been counted as convective in Figure 1(a). case of multi-movement pieces, we take the (Murtomäki, 1996). Wind is the second most popular main key of the relevant movement rather All the classical orchestral pieces that we weather phenomenon pictured in music. than the overall key of the piece.) It might have identified as referring to weather in It is presumably well-represented because even be wondered whether many (or even some way are listed in Table 1. In the next it can have a variety of characters, from a all) depictions of frontal storms are in the section the meteorological representations gentle breeze rustling the trees, as in the same minor key, because it has been sug- will be analyzed. beginning of the third movement of gested that each major and minor key has Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz, a particular unique meaning (Steblin, 2005). Types of weather represented 1830), to a full-blown (again pun intended!) For example, C major is supposed to repre- Antarctic gale, as in Vaughan Williams’ sent simplicity, C minor is longing, D major in music Sinfonia Antarctica. The Alpine Symphony is triumph, E flat major is love and F minor Figure 1(a) summarizes the frequencies with features a ‘calm before the storm’ section, is depression. However, this is found not to which the different types of weather are which has been classified here in the wind be the case here, with G minor, E minor, depicted in our sample of classical orchestral music. We include the aurorae, which are noted when seen at meteorological observa- tories (Shanklin et al., 2009). We also include ‘fair weather’, for which a definition can be borrowed from atmospheric electricity termi- nology (Reiter, 1992), referring to a relatively clear sky with no hydrometeors. More than one type of weather can be counted for each piece and Table 1 shows which categories have been specified by the composer, are clearly identifiable from the musical score, or have been widely discussed in subsequent studies. Note that the categories are not all independent: for example storms involve rain, and therefore this sort of analysis is prin- cipally descriptive. Clearly the most popular type of weather to be represented in music is the storm, pre- sumably because of the use of storms by composers as an allegory for emotional tur- bulence. In Figure 1(a) a distinction is made between the frontal storm, characterized by Figure 1. (a) Types of weather represented in each named piece or section of a piece. ‘Storm’ is strong winds and heavy rain, and the separated into two types: frontal in light grey and convective (thunderstorm) in dark grey. convective storm, involving thunder and (b) Nationality of composers representing weather in their music. 301 Table 1 Orchestral pieces identified as containing references to the weather, in the format name of piece/subsection. Composer Title Year of Storm Thunder- Rain Fog/mist Cloud Sun Wind Snow Aurora Fair (nationality) publication (frontal) storm /ice weather Bax (UK) November Woods 1917 x — — — — — — — — — Beethoven Symphony no. 6 1808 — x — — — — — — — — (German) Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique 1830 — x — — — — x — — — (French) The Trojans/Royal Hunt 1863 — x x — — — — — — and Storm

Western classical orchestral music Western Brian (UK) Symphony no. 1 1927 — — — — — x — — — — Symphony no. 10 1954 — x — — — — x — — — Bridge (UK) The Sea/Seascape 1911 — — — — — — x — — x The Sea/Moonlight — — — — x — — — — x The Sea/Storm x — — — — — — — — — Britten (UK) Four Sea Interludes/ 1945 x — — — — — — — — — Storm Debussy Nocturnes/Nuages 1899 — — — — x — — — — — (French) La Mer/Dialogues of 1905 — — — — — — x — — — wind and sea D’Indy Diptyque 1926 — — — — — x — — — x (French) méditerranéen

Weather – November 2011, Vol. 66, No. 11 66, No. Vol. 2011, – November Weather Jour d’été à la 1906 — x — — x x — — — — montagne Elkington Out of the Mist 1921 — — — x — — — — — — (UK) Grofe (USA) Grand Canyon Suite/ 1931 — x x — — — x — — — Cloudburst Henze Symphony no. 6 1969 — x — — — — — — — — (German) Maxwell Antarctic Symphony 2000 — — — — — — — x — — Davies (UK) Mendelssohn Fingal’s Cave 1830 x — — — — — — — — — (German) Nielsen Aladdin’s Dream and 1919 — — — x — — — — — — (Danish) Dance of the Morning Mist Helios Overture 1903 — — x — — x — — — — Prokofiev Lieutenant Kije Suite/ 1934 — — — — — — — x — — (Russian) Troika Ravel Daphnis and Chloe 1912 — — — — — — x — — — (French) La Valse 1919 — — — — x — — — — — Rossini William Tell Overture 1829 x? x? — — — — — — — — (Italian) Sibelius Tapiola 1926 x — — — — — — — — — (Finnish) Night Ride and Sunrise 1908 — — — — — — — — x — Incidental music to the 1926 x — — — — — — — — — Tempest Strauss J. Thunder and Lightning 1868 — x — — — — — — — — (Austrian) Polka Strauss R. Alpine Symphony/ 1915 — — — x — — — — — — (German) Rising mists Alpine Symphony/The ————x————— sun gradually dims Alpine Symphony/Calm ——————x——— before the storm Alpine Symphony/ —x————x——— Thunderstorm, descent Don Quixote/Ride 1898 — — — — — — x — — — through the air Tchaikovsky The Tempest 1873 x — — — — — — — — — (Russian) Symphony no. 1 1866 — — — x — — — — — — 302 (Continued) Table 1 (Continued) Composer Title Year of Storm Thunder- Rain Fog/mist Cloud Sun Wind Snow Aurora Fair (nationality) publication (frontal) storm /ice weather Western orchestral music classical Tippett (UK) Symphony no. 4 1977 — — — — — — x — — — Vaughan Sinfonia Antarctica 1953 — — — — — — x x — — Williams (UK) Vivaldi The Four Seasons/ 1723 — x — — x — — — — x (Italian) Spring The Four Seasons/ —xx——xx——— Summer The Four Seasons/ ——x———xx—— Winter The storm at sea 1725 x — — — — — — — — — Weather – November 2011, Vol. 66, No. 11 ?: it is uncertain whether the storm represented was frontal or convective.

E flat minor, B minor and F minor all being to our knowledge. The only representation tension often associate their condition with a used to depict frontal storms. of the aurora in this selection of music comes nervous exhaustion or with being over-worked. We note that the earlier composers, from from Finland, the north of which is well A look at the barometer would probably bring the Baroque and Classical periods (Vivaldi within the auroral zone. Composers from the them closer to the truth. There is no clear link excluded) did not seem to represent central European land-mass are responsible between the preferred weather conditions of weather very much, and therefore these for all the musical thunderstorms identified. any composers and the atmospheric phe- composers are largely missing from Table 1. Composers occasionally choose to depict nomena they represented musically. We have no rigorous explanation for this weather substantially removed from their observation, but it is not difficult to specu- usual environment: Vaughan Williams’ late that it could be caused simply by the Sinfonia Antarctica was written at a time Instrumentation used to relative rarity of written records from that when the British were captivated by polar represent weather time. Baroque and Classical period compos- expeditions, and later inspired a similar piece The use of mimicry is common in music to ers may simply have been inspired more by by Peter Maxwell Davies. The contrast imitate directly many of the sounds of the the impressive contemporaneous human between Copenhagen and the sunny Aegean natural world, so it is unsurprising that several achievements (e.g. architecture) than by was clearly a creative inspiration to Nielsen. of the pieces indicated in Table 1 attempt to nature. Alternatively, because early compos- Other than Russians, eastern European com- copy the sounds of the weather. This section ers lived in a period that is now known as posers do not feature in Figure 1(b), but some describes the evolution of meteorological the Little Ice Age, because it was relatively would if we included non-orchestral music mimicry from the Baroque period, through to cold, the weather might not have been par- (e.g. Chopin, for his Winter Wind Étude and specialized instruments specifically designed ticularly changeable or inspiring. Early Raindrop Prelude). to copy the sounds of wind and thunder. music might still have been influenced by The most prolific representations of the climate in subtler ways, though. For weather in music are by Richard Strauss, example, it has been hypothesized that the who chose to depict meteorological phe- Weather in the music of Vivaldi superior tonal qualities of Antonio nomena five times across two major tone Direct imitation was more difficult before Stradivari’s violins were caused by reduced poems (Table 1). Strauss was known to be the larger symphony orchestra developed tree-growth rates associated with the rela- a nature lover and his compositional output during the eighteenth and nineteenth tively cold climate (Burckle and Grissino- was apparently heavily influenced by the centuries, so earlier pieces had in some Mayer, 2003). Later, the growth of the weather. He needed both sunshine and the ways to use cleverer techniques. This Romanticism movement meant nature Alpine landscape to inspire him might explain why there is only one com- became more common as an artistic inspira- (Schweisheimer, 1961), but did not seem to poser identified who clearly represented tion; this is discussed later in this article. depict sunshine in any of his work. weather in the Baroque-period orchestra, Several other composers (Berlioz, namely Antonio Vivaldi. His concertos Composers and their Schubert, Wagner, Puccini and Stravinsky to arguably contained much more colour and name a few) were also dependent on fair dynamic range than those of his mid- environments weather for their best output. Wagner, for Baroque predecessors, so were perhaps Figure 1(b) shows a breakdown of the nation- example, referred to bad-weather unemploy- better-placed to depict a wider range of ality of composers choosing to depict mete- ment and wrote: This is awful weather. My weather types than had hitherto been orological events. This appears to support work has been put aside for two days, and the possible. His four violin concertos, The Four the stereotypical assumption that people brain is stubbornly declining its services Seasons, are a classic example of pro- from the UK are more enthusiastic about the (Schweisheimer, 1961). Also, Chopin gramme music. Each concerto was pub- weather than their colleagues overseas, famously visited Majorca, in 1838, for the lished with a corresponding sonnet, three although this effect could be due to sam- purpose of finding some winter warmth. of which clearly mention weather. For pling bias, given that the authors of this Many composers claimed that they needed example, in Summer the rapidity of the paper are both from the UK. Composers it to be sunny and summery to produce their notes increases during the first movement could be expected to portray the landscape best work, and complained that winds such to depict an impending transition from a and weather with which they are most famil- as the Foehn and Scirocco had a detrimental gentle breeze under the blazing sun to the iar: for example, three of the seven compos- effect, although Tchaikovsky was unusual in harsh, menacing gusts of the fierce north ers depicting frontal storms are from the UK, preferring autumnal weather. As Schweishe- wind (Anderson, 2009). After a lull during whereas no well-known composer from imer says, Musicians who suffer from the occa- the second movement, the storm finally these islands has dealt with a thunderstorm sional depression, vague pain and nervous arrives in the final movement and furious 303 thunder irradiates the heavens. Similarly, heard before the storm returns with a after the final judgement of the Last Trump: in The Storm at Sea (sometimes translated vengeance. thunder effects, diminished chords and fan- as The Raging of the Sea), the tension and fares [were] used liberally (Brooks, 1999). unease associated with the storm are During this period, thunder effects were depicted using various musical devices, Wind and thunder machines sometimes improvised by placing a plank such as repetition, key changes and inter- As orchestral capabilities grew throughout across the lowest octave of pedals. Research ruption of the melody. the nineteenth century, special bespoke 150 years later justified this approach by instruments were devised specifically to measuring the broad acoustic spectrum of mimic the weather. Two examples from the thunder (Few et al., 1967). Convective and frontal storms percussion family are shown in Figure 2. Instruments with no musical purpose Beethoven was probably the first composer The wind machine is a silk-covered drum other than meteorological mimicry can to imitate directly the sounds of the weather that is rotated by revolving a handle against form even more explicit references than Western classical orchestral music Western in an orchestra, in the Pastoral Symphony. a bar to produce a whooshing or howling the most carefully specified programme Low string instruments playing the same sound. It is used by Vaughan Williams in his music discussed earlier. According to repeated rapid notes (a technique known Sinfonia Antarctica and a calmer example Scholes (1992), these sorts of instruments as tremolando) are used from the very first can be found in Flight through the Air from are used only in passages of a meteorologi- bar of the fourth movement to suggest the the tone poem Don Quixote by Richard cal intention. One example is in Ravel’s rumbling of thunder, and the tune played Strauss. The thunder sheet is a suspended ballet suite from Daphnis and Chloe, by the upper string instruments creates a sheet of metal, up to around five metres which uses a wind machine evocatively. sense of tension. The thunderstorm gets long (Blades, 1970), that can be hit with a However, the unambiguous soundscape closer and the cellos and double basses get drum stick to produce an appropriate rum- provided by these instruments can also louder until, when the storm is close by, ble. The thunder machine (not shown) is a remove the need for composers to explain they break into rapid scales, perhaps to sug- large rotating drum with balls inside, called themselves. Contrary to Scholes’ interpreta- gest driving rain, whilst the higher string for in the musical score for Strauss’s Alpine tion, this can lead to more abstract repre- instruments join the tremolando. The other Symphony. sentations of atmospheric effects in Weather – November 2011, Vol. 66, No. 11 66, No. Vol. 2011, – November Weather instruments, including the timpani (large, Some organs have a storm-effects stop twentieth century music. For example, the low-pitched drums), then join in to add to (pédale d’effets d’orage) which sounds two 1969 6th Symphony by Hans Werner Henze the effect. low-frequency pipes that, when combined, uses two thunder sheets, one large and one Beethoven’s storm was clearly an impor- mimic a storm. Both the Alpine Symphony small, as one of many novel sound tant influence for subsequent composers, and Sinfonia Antarctica are scored for effects in a complex and challenging piece, with many other musical thunderstorms fol- organ, although we are not aware of any which does not seem to have been lowing a similar pattern, so much so that orchestral pieces specifically requesting meteorologically inspired (Henderson, Hopkins (1982) wrote: the organ ‘thunder stop’, as orchestral com- 1972). posers rarely specified organ stops this Confronted with the task of writing storm carefully. Interestingly, though, there was a music, any composer is forced to accept fashion in early nineteenth-century France Conclusions that musical clichés are almost unavoid- to compose programmatic organ works, The influence of the natural world on com- able. There is no better way of imitating depicting the human condition before and thunder than to use drums; a howling wind posers and other artists is well known and does make a chromatic wail; torrential rain has been discussed elsewhere in its broad context, for instance within Romanticism, does not fall in slow motion. (a) which arose in music, art and literature in Richard Strauss in some ways follows the the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries ‘musical clichés’ in the Alpine Symphony, yet (e.g. Runciman, 1918). The influence of the still manages to make the storm sound fresh Impressionist movement in art on compos- and original. The rumble of thunder is heard ers such as Debussy has also been dis- as the storm approaches, culminating in an cussed. One important difference between effective representation of the storm over- Impressionist art and music is that, unlike head, a bass drum thunderclap at the same Monet’s paintings, which are known to be time as a shrieking piccolo (a small, more accurate representations of the atmosphere, high-pitched flute), conjuring up images of (Baker and Thornes, 2006), it may be impos- a lightning strike that is a little too close for sible to show that the atmosphere is comfort. (b) depicted ‘accurately’ in sound, despite The frontal type of storm is less frequently Debussy’s keen artist’s eye in his descriptions represented in music and, as it does not of the slow, solemn motion of the clouds usually feature thunder and lightning, direct (Blakeman, 2003). mimicry is used less often in favour of more We believe that specific meteorological original instrumentation. Hopkins (1982) influences in classical orchestral music praises Britten’s storm scene in Four Sea have not hitherto been identified and Interludes from Peter Grimes for not including catalogued. In this article we have pre- the predictable tremolando strings and sented a list of orchestral pieces featuring rumbling timpani. Novel effects are used to atmospheric phenomena and have pro- represent the wind and rain: for example vided a basic classification of the condi- the side-drum could indicate something tions pictured. Composers are generally that has broken loose and is banging Figure 2. Percussion instruments specifically influenced by their own environment in against a window-frame (Hopkins, 1982). designed to represent weather: (a) wind the type of weather they choose to repre- Towards the end of the piece, a brief machine, (b) small thunder sheet. (Photographs sent, with British composers perhaps hav- 304 improvement in the weather can be clearly by Mike Perry of Bell Percussion Ltd.) ing a disproportionate interest in picturing the UK’s variable weather patterns and References Scholes PA. 1992. The Oxford Companion stormy coastline (though sampling bias to Music, 10th Edition. Oxford University cannot be ruled out). The few exceptions Anderson J. 2004. Sibelius and Press: Oxford. contemporary music, in The Cambridge to this rule usually represent a completely Schweisheimer W. 1961. What summer Western orchestral music classical Companion to Sibelius. Grimley D (ed.). different type of weather to the compos- does not bring me – in winter doesn’t pp. 196–218. Cambridge University Press: evolve! Weather and season influence er’s ‘home’ environment. One way to test Cambridge, UK. this hypothesis would be to see if weather the composer’s creativity. Med. Welt. 45: Anderson N. 2009. 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Henze: Symphonies Herbert von Karajan, DG B000001G6Y have tried to make the coverage of this arti- nos. 1–6, In: CD notes for Henze: (1987). cle as comprehensive as possible, any study Symphonies nos. 1–6. Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Orchestre on this topic will inevitably be subjective. Hopkins A. 1982. Sounds of the Orchestra. Révolutionnaire et Romantique/John Eliot We have attempted to reduce sampling bias J.M. Dent: London. Gardiner, Philips 434 402-2 (1993). by discussing our list of musical pieces with Jones N. 1990. The Canyon, In: CD notes Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique and music colleagues and by adding their suggestions. for Itaipu/The Canyon (Glass), Atlanta from Les Troyens, Royal Philharmonic Nevertheless, we must add the disclaimer Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/Shaw, Orchestra/Kurt Herbert Adler, Decca 430 that the pieces we have included might still Sony Classical SK 46352. 755-2 (1984). not be fully representative. We welcome Kemp I. 1988. Hector Berlioz: Les Troyens. Bridge: The Sea and Dance Poem Vol. 2, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Richard correspondence, through the Weather let- Hickox, Chandos CHAN 10012 (2002). ters pages, from any readers who have their Mach DM, Christian HJ, Blakeslee RJ, Boccippio DJ, Goodman SJ, Boeck WL. Britten: A Portrait of Britten, English own thoughts about the representation of 2007. Performance assessment of the Symphony and String Orchestras/William meteorological phenomena in music, and optical transient detector and lightning Boughton, Nimbus Records LC 5871 (1999). might even consider a subsequent article if imaging sensor. J. Geophys. Res. 112: Debussy: Complete Works for Orchestra, enough new material is identified. D09210, doi: 10.1029/2006JD007787. Ulster Orchestra/Yan Pascal Tortelier, Murtomäki V. 1996. Symphonic fantasy Chandos CHAN X10144(4) (2003). – a synthesis of symphonic thinking D’Indy: Orchestra works, vols 1 and 3, Acknowledgements in Sibelius’s Seventh Symphony and Iceland Symphony Orchestra/Rumon Tapiola, in The Sibelius Companion. Goss Gamba, Chandos CHAN 10464 and Thanks to Philip Aspden, Chris King, Ian GD (ed.). pp. 147–163. Greenwood Press: 101585. Rutt, Alastair Wheeler, Alice Williamson and Westport, CT. Elkington: Out of the Mist, BBC Symphony others who suggested music and refer- Porter D, Price D. 2008. Frommer’s Orchestra/ David Lloyd-Jones, Dutton ences for the list. Thanks also to Anna Switzerland, 13th Edition. John Wiley & CDLX7172 (2007). Zimdars for translating the articles by Sons: Hoboken, NJ. Henze: Symphonies nos. 1–6, Berliner Schweisheimer (1961) and Wiesmann Reiter R. 1992. Phenomena in Atmospheric Philharmoniker and London Symphony (1985) from German to English for us. PDW and Environmental Electricity. Elsevier: Orchestra/ Henze, DG 429 854 (1972). is funded through a University Research Amsterdam. Mendelssohn: Fingal’s Cave, etc London Fellowship from the Royal Society Runciman JF. 1918. Weather and the art- Symphony Orchestra/Antal Dorati, Philips ist. Music. Q. 4: 572–578. (1995). (reference: UF080256). 305 Nielsen: Aladdin Suite etc., Gothenburg Sibelius: The Tempest, Lahti Symphony Vaughan Williams: A Pastoral Symphony, Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi. Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä, Bis CD-581 Sinfonia Antarctica, BBC Symphony Deutsche Grammophon (1996). (1992). Orchestra, Andrew Davis, Teldec British Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kije suite, etc., Strauss J.: Strauss Family Polkas and Line 0630-13139-2. Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra/Loris Waltzes, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/ Vivaldi: Concertos Op 8, The English Tjeknavorian, ASV B0000030UL (1994). Herbert von Karajan, Masters (2002). Concert/Trevor Pinnock, Simon Standage Ravel: Orchestral Music, Ulster Orchestra/ Strauss R.: Ein Alpensinfonie, London (violin), CRD 3325 (2009). Yan Pascal Tortelier, Chandos CHAN9206 Symphony Orchestra/Bernard Haitink, LSO (1993). Live (2010). Rossini: Overtures, Moscow Chamber Tchaikovsky: The Tempest/Manfred Correspondence to: Karen L. Aplin, Orchestra/Constantine Orbelian, Chandos Symphony, Russian National Orchestra/ Department of Physics, University of Oxford, CHAN 9753 (2000). Mikhail Pletnev, Deutsche Grammophon Oxford, UK 439 891-2 (1994). Western classical orchestral music Western Sibelius: Symphonies no. 5 & 7, etc. City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/ Tchaikovsky: Symphonies no. 1 and 2, [email protected] Philharmonia Orchestra/Simon Rattle. EMI Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Lorin © Royal Meteorological Society, 2011 Classics CDM 7 641222 (1991). Maazel, Decca (1996). DOI: 10.1002/wea.765

Weather – November 2011, Vol. 66, No. 11 66, No. Vol. 2011, – November Weather Diurnal pressure variation: the atmospheric tide

Frank Le Blancq polar regions to 3.0 millibars in the tropics. 10 millibars or more is quite common and a It is the intention of this short paper to dem- difference of more than 20 millibars is far from Jersey Meteorological Department onstrate, rather than explain, the compo- rare. As a result, a barograph trace in mid-lat- Those of us who live near the coast are nents; readers seeking more information on itudes is often irregular and usually masks any familiar with the tide, that regular ebb and atmospheric and ocean tides are directed underlying diurnal cycle. By comparing a mid- flow of the sea, more strictly called the to the works of Pugh (1987), Chapman and latitude station with two stations in the tropics, ‘ocean tide’. At most locations it is a phe- Lindzen (1970) and Haurwitz and Cowley the similarities and differences can be shown. nomenon with a semidiurnal oscillation, (1973) where the subject is covered in detail. While recovering and digitizing old surface though the vertical displacement of the sea In the upper atmosphere the diurnal heat- pressure data for Jersey Airport, a complete varies greatly from place to place. On some ing cycle gives rise to diurnal pressure set of three-hourly surface pressure readings coasts in the Mediterranean, for instance, waves, but the dynamic structure of the was compiled (Le Blancq, 2010). The data- the difference between high and low water atmosphere causes the semidiurnal har- base starts in 1961 when sea-level pressure may be as little as 0.1 metres on a neap tide monic to be dominant (Pugh, 1987). More was calculated using a mercury Kew pattern while on others, such as the Bay of St. Malo specifically, as Cooper (1982) has noted, the barometer, but the period used here covers off northwest France, the difference can atmospheric tide is largely due to the 40 years from 1971 to 2010 when precision exceed 14 metres on a spring tide. Influences absorption of ultra violet (UV) radiation by aneroid barometers (PAB) were in use. In on the tide are many and complex, but are ozone. The effect of diurnal pressure varia- accordance with aviation requirements, the dominated by the gravitational effect of the tion is most noticeable in the tropics where PABs were cross-checked daily and calibrated sun and moon and their position in relation incoming solar radiation is greatest but, as regularly, so we have confidence in the accu- to the Earth, which incidentally allows a dynamic forcing is weak in these regions, racy of the readings. high degree of predictability. absolute surface pressure changes are small: By averaging observations over a long In the atmosphere, elements of the an observation at a tropical station taken at period, the irregular short-term, (i.e. non- weather such as temperature and humidity the same time each day has an average dif- periodic) variations are removed, allowing also display diurnal variations and, in a simi- ference of ~0.7 millibars from one day to underlying longer-term variations to lar manner to the ocean tide, there exists the next, though the barograph trace will emerge. The three-hourly surface pressure an atmospheric tide with air pressure show- show a semidiurnal, approximately sinusoi- observations from three stations were used ing an underlying variation. The compo- dal, trace with a range of 3 millibars or so in the following analysis: nents which combine to cause this variation over the course of 24 hours. are also complex and not fully understood, By way of contrast, mid-latitude surface 1. Panjim (Goa) 15°N 74°E: a tropical sta- but the solar component, referred to as pressure changes are dominated by dynamic tion on the west coast of India, with data radiational forcing (Pugh, 1987), is domi- forcing associated with the polar front jet, from synoptic reports for 12 months in nant. The maxima and minima occur at which causes much greater shorter-term 2007/2008 and no missing data. approximately the same local time each day changes. In the Channel Islands, for instance, 2. Malé (Maldive Islands) 4°N 74°E: a sta- and, as with the ocean tide, studies show an observation taken at the same time each tion close to the equator, with data from the height of the atmospheric tide varies day has an average difference of nearly 6 mil- synoptic reports for 2008 (80% data 306 with location, from about 0.3 millibars in libars from one day to the next, whilst availability).