Weather by Michael Gordon, Nonesuch 79553-2, 1998.

This is a work of 4 movements composed for string orchestra and electronic
instruments, three of which sound minimalist, but with more variation than
I remember hearing in the works of Glass and Reich.  There is a lot of
tension in the music, a relentlessness like to approach of a storm

The third movement is not minimalist.  Instead of being composed for
string orchestra, it was composed for an air raid siren trio (I think).
It is over 12 minutes long of sirens of different pitch rising and falling.
I would think that Gordon had in mind the sirens that warn people of
approaching tornadoes.  Hearing this reminds me of another situation when
a siren could sound.  As a teenager during the Cuban Missle Crisis, I was
in an American History class when the town officials decided it would be
a good time to test the air raid siren.

Kennedy had just given Khrushchev the ultimatum that if any Soviet
ships tried to break the embargo of Cuba, they would be fired upon.
As the wailing began to sound, all of us, the teacher included, stopped,
transfixed and quietly looked at each other and waited.  I was 14 years-old
and I thought it was the end.

Ron Chaplin
Iselin, New Jersey, USA