The Musicians and Music of the Titanic: An Illustrated Lecture presented by Dulais Rhys, Ph.D

This presentation, Nearer My God To Thee, focuses on the curtailed lives and careers of the musicians who allegedly played to calm the passengers for as long as they possibly could.

The dreadful sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912 is forever and indelibly embedded in humankind’s psyche. A plethora of myths and legends had emanated from the original accident. In particular that the orchestra played the hymn ‘Nearer My God To Thee’ as the boat sank. Although the White Star Line employed dozens of musicians on its trans-Atlantic fleet of liners, the Titanic ‘orchestra’ was in fact an octet (eight instrumentalists) who had a repertoire of over 300 pieces of music, which included many hymns such as ‘Nearer My God To Thee’, but there is almost no evidence of what music was actually played as that ship sank.

The members of the ‘Titanic orchestra’ were not the only musicians on board, but all played from a bespoke booklet of music - copies of which survived - including the famous ‘Nearer My God To Thee’, the history and composition of which will also form part of this presentation.

Free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served and may be limited. For more information call 702.507.6068.

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