Titanic Piano

Titanic’s Third Class was divided into two groups of travelers. Single men and groups of male immigrants were berthed at the bow of the ship. Families, single women, and men traveling with women were berthed at the stern. These two groups didn’t usually mix, and even had separate Dining Saloons. Third Class passenger list This…… Continue reading Titanic’s Third Class music

There was a second band on board Titanic, a trio that played in the First Class Reception Room outside the à la carte Restaurant and Cafe Parisien. The room itself was the B Deck landing of the aft Grand Staircase. First Class Reception Room for a la carte Restaurant and Cafe Parisien, B DeckThe cafe…… Continue reading Titanic’s second band: Trio for Restaurant and Cafe Parisien

On the morning of April 11, 1912, five musicians woke up together in an unnumbered cabin at the end of a Second Class corridor on Titanic’s E Deck. The pursers and clerks were berthed in the next cabin, and beyond them, Second Class passengers. The musicians’ cabin was in Second Class because officially they sailed…… Continue reading April 11, 1912: Day with Titanic’s five-piece band

On the morning of April 10, 1912 at the port of Southampton the first passengers boarded Titanic. Stewards and stewardesses stood in place to help passengers find their way through the myriad of rooms, corridors, staircases and elevator lifts. The size of the vessel was immense. It was the kind of floating grand hotel where…… Continue reading April 10, 1912: Titanic’s band according to passengers

Titanic’s string musicians traveled with their own instruments and tuned them anew for each performance. Every time the band gathered, passengers would have heard the string players tuning up prior to the performance. However, the pianist had to play the instruments provided by the White Star Line. Lucky for Titanic’s pianist, the steamer had only…… Continue reading Maintaining Titanic’s shipboard pianos

Perhaps you have heard it sung in The Titanic Song, “So they put them down below where they’d be the first to go….” Contrary to the belief that Titanic’s Third Class was kept below in suppressed conditions, there was actually a level of comfort provided steerage passengers that put Titanic a cut above other ships.…… Continue reading Titanic’s Third Class piano and General Room

“A Steinway grand piano takes nearly a year to create. Nothing is hurried. Even the carefully selected woods that make up the rims, top, soundboards, and actions cure for months in our yard, kilns, and conditioning rooms before they stabilize at a rigidly specified moisture content. The rim of the instruments consists of layers of…… Continue reading To craft a Titanic Steinway

There were two Steinway pianos in Titanic’s Second Class, both Model K uprights. The difference in size between the First Class Model R uprights and Second Class Model K uprights was two inches, at 54” and 52” respectively. Even though both sizes were quite large by today’s standards (for home pianos), and therefore also quite…… Continue reading Titanic’s second class pianos

Titanic’s First Class was provided for with three elegant Steinway pianos, two Model R uprights and one Model B drawing room grand. In 1912 recorded music had not entirely replaced sheet music. It was a time when many people had reached a decent level of literacy and performance proficiency. People liked their pianos and they…… Continue reading Titanic’s first class pianos

By mid-March 1912 plans for Titanic’s music were all beginning to come together. C. W. & F. N. Black, music agents who organized and hired musicians for seagoing liners, had been considering bandsmen at least since December 1911, mulling over their choices. It is known that cellist Seth Lancaster from Colne was asked to join…… Continue reading March 1912: Titanic’s pianos and musicians in place