Music Booklet
Nothing onboard was more popular that the orchestra, recalled first
class passenger Mrs. Helen Churchill Candee. Before dinner the
orchestra serenaded guests with light music, and after dinner it
provided concerts in the lounge or reception room.
This abridged replica of the White Star Music Booklet reveals
that the repertoire ran the gamut from light opera to the popular
songs of the day. Not long after the Titanic struck the iceberg,
the orchestra gathered in the first class lounge and played lively
tunes such as "Alexanders Ragtime Band". Then the musicians
moved to the boat deck level of the grand staircase and
later still to the exterior of the boat deck while lifeboats were
being loaded and lowered, There can be little doubt about the
bravery of these men whom knew they had no chance of survival
yet still chose to spend their last moments cheering others.
Of particular interest is selection # 137, Songe d' Automne",
a poignant and popular watz tune of the day that was almost
certainly the last piece played before Titanic sank, rather than
the hymn "nearer My God to thee." which has become
part of the popular mythology surrounding the disaster. |
