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My first experience of a musical storm (see p36) came 35 years ago, courtesy of organist Nigel Ogden (formerly). At the end of his recital on the 1855 Hill organ at Kidderminster Town Hall, Ogden improvised a storm, complete with blasting reeds and oodles of rapid chromatic scales, the clouds eventually clearing to the tune of ‘The sun has got his hat on’. Ogden was following in a long tradition of storm-themed organ improvisations by the likes of Blackpool Tower Ballroom organist Reginald Dixon and, intriguingly, composer Camille Saint-Saëns. In fact, so suitable was the 19th-century French Cavaillé-Coll organ for conjuring up wind, rain, thunder and the like that many were fitted with an ‘orage’ effect that simulated thunderclaps by simultaneously triggering the bottom six notes on the pedalboard. This month, we venture far and wide, sou’wester at the ready, to explore how composers have scored storms for orchestra. Do you have a favourite musical storm? Do email us at . The garden could do with some rain…