"And the band played on..."
Second Movement
The passengers were ordered to put on their lifejackets and go up to the boat deck. The band was assembled in the first class lounge nearby, their music wafting up to the boat deck. Captian Smith asked them to perform fast ragtime tunes to keep passengers spirits up while the crew began loading the lifeboats. Later on, the band moved to the entrance of the grand staircase. At first, it was a festive atmosphere, since most of the passengers thought this was just a drill. As the slant of the decks grew steeper, the upbeat music helped keep the crowd calm. By now, the passengers knew the Titanic was sinking. Ben Guggenheim put on his formal evening clothes and said if he had to perish, he wanted to "die like a gentleman." The atmosphere grew more and more tense...the lifeboats began to fill up... and the band played on...
"Ida's Love Theme"
Third Movement
"Women and children first" was strictly enforced due to the fact that the the Titanic wasn't equipped with enough life boats for all of her passengers. On her slanting decks, husbands were bidding their wives and families farewell as lifeboats were being lowered into the icy water. Isador Straus assisted his wife Ida as she moved to board lifeboat number eight. She refused to get in, saying, "We've been together for many years. Where you go, I go." They pulled up deck chairs and sat together side by side, in tight embrace, ready to meet death as they had lived their lives: together.
The story of Ida and Isador Straus is one of the most poinient of the Titanic's many tragic stories. Woven into the theme is a sense of the Straus' background, the ragtime optimism of an America which held great promise and success for an immigrant like Straus, though what we hear is a melancholy strain, like something lost, in the final plunge of that which was thought to be unsinkable. For all the sadness of the piece, there is a feeling of warmth for the love between two persons so wedded in life that even death could not part them.
Titanic Symphony
Symphony No 3 ,First Movement (segment)
"Her Maiden Voyage"
These program notes are from the conductor's score. They were written on the pages of the symphony as the events unfold, except for some of the notes from "Ida's Love Theme" that were re-written for the Lincoln Center premiere.
April 11, 1912. Queenstown, Ireland:
The starboard anchor is raised for the last time.
The foghorn sounds as the Titanic departs on her first trans-atlantic crosssing to New York.
Captian Edward J. Smith was to retire after taking the Titanic on her maiden voyage. On board were some of the wealthiest people in the world. Among them were John Jacob Astor, hotel magnet; Benjamin Guggenheim of the American mining and smelting family and Isador and Ida Strauss, owners of Macy's, the world's largest department store. All was well as the pride of the White Star Line made her way majestically across the atlantic.
April 14, 1912, Sunday evening:
Despite numerous warnings of icebergs in the area, the Titanic plowed through a large field of ice at full speed. After all, why should the largest ship in the world, which was advertised as "unsinkable," slow down for ice? Especially when you consider that this was the Edwardian era, characteriized by a complacent sense of material security. The band ended the evening in the First Class Lounge with a performance of Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann. Since the sinking of the Titanic brought an abrupt end to the Edwardian way of thinking, Offenbach's famous Barcarolle represents the swan song of this era.
While wandering down the promenade deck, one of the first class passengers could hear the strains of the band's final piece fade away. It was a cold and starry night. Some of the passengers could hear a faint grinding sound, which was the sound of the ship scrapping against a large iceberg. Most of the passengers didn't even notice this. However, they did notice the sound of the great steam engines slowing down and coming to a halt.
The ship sat motionless in the water. Then the engines started up again, but final orders were given to stop the engines for the last time.
"The Sinking"
Fourth Movement (segment)
The Titanic's forecastle is now under water and all the lifeboats are gone. Pandemoniun is breaking out among the 1,500 people still on deck. Wireless operators Harold Bride and Jack Phillips send their final SOS message as Captian Smith releases the crew, saying, "It's every man for himself."
The forward funnel collapses, the band stops playing...the lights blink once, then go out...masses of humanity are being swept off the deck by waves as the great ship goes under.
Finally, the stern tilts high into the air and pauses for a moment before slowly sinking into the ocean.The Titanic is gone.
Titanic Symphony Premiere
