more fitting than Coates' 'Summer Days' Suite and Stanford's 'The Bluebird'? We British are obsessed with weather. Hardly a conversation goes by without this most controversial of subjects not being raised. Even the most reserved by nature of us will use the weather as an 'ice breaker' (no pun intended!). To feed our national preoccupation, the televised weather reports have become mini-extravaganzas in their own right. Presenters with jolly personalities regale us with the most detailed of information about conditions, not just for the day in hand, but anything up to a week later. And we learn of hurricanes and blizzards and extreme rain falls etc around the globe on a regular basis. And whilst we are on the subject, there is that perennial question, rhetoric...  (less)