To judge by their recent complaints, the people of England hate the air-raid alarms more than they hate air raids. Last week the Ministry for Home Security bowed to the popular will, reduced as much as it could the time of sounding each alarm— from two minutes to one.
No haphazard noisemakers are Britain’s wailing sirens. Sounded by air pressure operating on electric oscillators, they produce a discord which in the Middle Ages was regarded as the work of the devil. This discord is the augmented fourth (example: C and F sharp on the piano), was called the tritone because it spans three whole tones. The tritone was banned in sacred music, thus giving rise to a maxim: Mi contra fa est diabolus in musica (The tritone is the devil in music). When the sirens, beginning on a sweet major third or fifth, slip up and down into the bloodcurdling tritone, it sounds that way to Londoners.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- How the Economy is Doing in the Swing States
- Harris Battles For the Bro Vote
- Our Guide to Voting in the 2024 Election
- Mel Robbins Will Make You Do It
- Why Vinegar Is So Good for You
- You Don’t Have to Dread the End of Daylight Saving
- The 20 Best Halloween TV Episodes of All Time
- Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
Contact us at letters@time.com