The main reason Titanic’s bandsmen gained the attention and affection of the public was because of their final performance. The tale of their sacrifice cast them as heroes, for in the tale they played a hymn of comfort for the souls doomed to die that night. Rightly so. Wallace Hartley’s name became forever associated with…… Continue reading Titanic: Did Hartley or Hume have the better job?

One of the most compelling pieces of evidence which helps divide Titanic’s musicians into the two bands is a quote that came from C. W. & F. N. Black, the brothers who managed Titanic’s music including the hiring of musicians. To begin with, Charles Black referred to the bands as a “saloon orchestra” and a…… Continue reading Titanic’s saloon orchestra, deck band and leaders

Two men have been called bandleader on Titanic: Wallace Hartley and Jock Hume. The former has been accepted as such for more than a century, and has usually been placed in Titanic’s quintet as bandleader of that ensemble, and has also been attributed as overall leader of all eight musicians on board. Jock Hume has…… Continue reading Who was bandleader of Titanic’s trio?

In the aftermath of the sinking of Titanic the deeds of the orchestra were well publicized. So much was said about the final piece heard moments before the Titanic sank that the focus of the press and public fell on Wallace Hartley, who had reportedly led the band in the final number. The survivors testified that they had…… Continue reading Was Jock Hume a bandmaster on Titanic?

It is an interesting and difficult proposition to reconstruct the make-up of the bands aboard Titanic. Several have tried, though under the old assumption that both bands had a pianist. Although there were six pianos on board, there was no piano in the trio’s only performance venue, the Reception Room adjoining the à la carte…… Continue reading Which musicians played in Titanic’s trio?

Ever since I began reading about music on the Titanic I’ve been perplexed about the instrumentation. At first, like most, I assumed that both ensembles had a piano. Had they both had a piano, the trio would have been a standard piano trio: Trio Possibility 1 PIANO TRIO ViolinCelloPiano Piano trio: violin, cello and piano…… Continue reading Which instruments made up Titanic’s bands?

Every photomontage of Titanic’s band lists six to eight musicians with their photos, names and sometimes with their instruments. (There were eight musicians on board, and in some publications, for various reasons, photos were simply missing.) When the story of the band’s final brave performance hit the press the public wanted to know more about…… Continue reading Titanic’s instrument list as reported by the press

The main gist of the last few posts has been to explore the likelihood that Titanic’s bands did not perform together as Titanic sank. The performance locations were quite far apart, one at the top of the forward Grand Staircase, and the other on B Deck of the aft Grand Staircase. Most passengers would have…… Continue reading When did Titanic’s bands stop playing?