[78-L] Titanic Songs

[Kristjan Saag]

On 2012-04-09 18:34, Rodger Holtin wrote:
 >  Still seems a little odd that Tin Pan Alley didn't jump on this, 
they sure cranked out the maudlin in previous decades, and could have 
churned out something.
---
Apparently you haven't bothered to open the links in my posting from a 
few hours ago. They show that Tin Pan Alley reacted with dozens of songs 
within months after the disaster. How many of them were recorded is 
another matter.
As for which hymn was played aboard at the end: most researchers hold 
that it was "Nearer My God To Thee", and if so, probably to the melody 
"Propior Deo" by Arthur Sullivan. At the time there were, at least, six 
or seven melodies used for the hymn in different countries. "Bethany" 
was the one in the United States, "Liverpool", "Horbury" and "Propior 
Deo" were among the ones used in the UK.
"Propior Deo" was, reportedly, the one bandmaster Wallace Hartley used 
to play; he was a Methodist and "Propior Deo" was used in the Methodist 
church in Britain. The first notes of this melody are even engraved on 
his tombstone.
What has puzzled Titanic research over the years is that passengers from 
both the US and Britain said they heard "Nearer My God To Thee" being 
played. But it's unlikely that the band would have played several 
versions; most of the passengers (in first and second class) were 
British, anyway.
However, if you listen to the opening of "Bethany" and "Propior Deo" you 
can hear a clear similarity. What probably happened was that the band 
started to play the hymn and the passengers joined in from the life 
boats (there are witness reports to that). Sitting in life boats in the 
open sea nobody paid much attention to what melody they followed.
http://home.earthlink.net/~llywarch/tnc02.html.htm
Kristjan