Musical storms

[febnyc]

One of my favorite works is Richard Strauss' Eine Alpensinfonie.  It think it is a perfectly symmetrical composition - with the majestic climax occurring in the middle of the piece.  The first half, of course, opens with a stupendous sunrise, and continues to follow the climber (climbers?) up the mountain - through woods, along streams, across waterfalls, alpine meadows - until the summit is reached.  Then, after some introspection about the insignificance of man in such a scene of nature, we are treated to the view from the apex, delivered by the battery of horns and the huge orchestral forces.  This part never fails to take my breath away. We now go on the descent, with the music taking us down the hill, and the piece slowly fades away into the "night sounds" and all is still.  As I mentioned, the work itself takes the shape of the mountain it describes.

But this is to digress - my topic stems from the cataclysmic storm through which we struggle after leaving the summit  - a sort of balancing section on the back side to the flurry of activity on the earlier, upside, of the work.  At any rate, this musical depiction of a rainstorm - thunder, lightning, what-have-you - is the most powerful I know.

There are storms in Beethoven's Sixth, in Rossini's William Tell Overture, in Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite, etc.  Strauss' appears to me to out-power them all by a long shot.

So - question - are there other examples of storms depicted in music which should be heard?  And, particularly, any by the unsungs?

[Alan Howe]

I always think the opening storm sequence in Act 1 of Die Walküre is pretty spectacular. The opening of Act 1 of Verdi's Otello is also pretty terrific...

[Alan Howe]

BTW if you like Strauss' Alpine Symphony, you really should try Langgaard's Symphony No.1!! Try the audio samples here...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Langgaard-Symphony-No-Fra-Dybet/dp/B001MV4P1G/ref=sr_1_1_digr?ie=UTF8&qid=1326571407&sr=8-1

[petershott@btinternet.com]

As Alan reminds us, lots and lots of good storms in the opera house!

That in Janacek's Katya Kabanova I always find especially chilling. And of course Peter Grimes.

[Peter1953]

A very striking example is the 2nd movement, Lento assai, of Rubinstein's Ocean Symphony. After some 4:30 minutes a storm is rising and reaches after a few minutes a climax, weakens, but a second climax occurs and then, after 12 minutes, it all turns to a very serene ending.

[TerraEpon]

No exactly a storm, but Hekla by Jón Leifs is a fantastic depiction of a volcano erupting.

...and so is Symphony #50 'Mount St Helens', 3rd Movement, by Alan Hovhaness for that matter.

[Revilod]

What about Novak's electrifying cantata "The Storm", a work which has one of the most thrilling openings in all music?

[jerfilm]

How 'bout Arthur Benjamin's Cantata "Storm Clouds" featured in the film The Man Who Knew Too Much"?  I waited years for a recording of that work.

Jerry

[thalbergmad]

I nervously mention the once "famous" Storm Rondo from the piano concerto No.3 by Steibelt, which was also published as a solo work and probably played in every salon in Europe at one time.

I have an ancient original that I have lovingly digitalised if anyone wants to have a bash:

https://rapidshare.com/files/274651075/Steibelt_-_L_Orage_precede_d_un_Rondeau_Pastoral.pdf             

I used to have this in my repetoire and would have thought under a good set of fingers this could be rather amusing.

Thal

[vandermolen]

Novak's 'The Storm' is a masterpiece. The opening of Dag Wiren's impressive 4th Symphony features an approaching storm sequence. Also, Sibelius's 'Tapiola' the last movement of Moeran's 'Symphony'. 'The Tempest' by Sibelius and Rosenberg. Tubin Symphony No 2 is very 'storm like' in places. Debussy's 'La Mer'. Britten's 'Sea Interludes' I'm sure there are many others too.

[JimL]

Hummel's Concert Fantasy L'enchantement d'Oberon for piano and orchestra on themes of Weber contains a concertante depiction of a storm.

[kolaboy]

Sibelius "Tempest" prelude...... a brilliant evocation 

[Jimfin]

Anything but unsung, but the Storm interlude in 'Peter Grimes' is wonderfully close and dramatic, especially ending with the slamming door in the pub. Sullivan made a couple of contributions: the ballet "L'ile Enchantee", the Prelude to "The Golden Legend" and Act II of "Haddon Hall". Walton's "Troilus and Cressida" has one too. Havergal Brian once said that after listening to Vaughan Williams' Piano Concerto it felt like surviving a storm, though I don't know if that was the composer's intention

[TerraEpon]

Sibelius "Tempest" prelude...... a brilliant evocation 

And of course there a "The Storm" movement in the incicental music proper.

[edurban]

The last act of Bellini's I Puritani begins with a nifty little storm.  On the Sills recording there are actual thunder crashes added that never fail to get a rise out of the cats !

David