Abstract
One of the most vivid and enduring ingredients of the myth of the Titanic is the image of the band playing on as the ship went down. More than that, the myth locates the brave musicians on deck, playing the hymn ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’1 as their final, solemn offering. Not one of them survived. It is a tale without which no telling of the Titanic story is complete.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Robert Donnelly, composer, ‘The Band Were Playing as the Ship Went Down’, published by Rossi and Spinelli Ltd, (London, n.d., but almost certainly 1912).
Haydon Augarde, ‘The Wreck of the Titanic’, musical sketch for piano, published by the Lawrence Wright Music Co. (London, 1912).
Lawrence Wright, ‘Be British!’ recorded version, ‘The Winner’ label, 1912.
Owen Chadwick, The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge, 1975, reprinted 1977), p. 262.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1999 Richard Howells
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Howells, R. (1999). ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’. In: The Myth of the Titanic. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230510845_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230510845_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-40585-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-51084-5
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)