Voices for Valor: How the greatest orchestra ever assembled honoured the Titanic's Unsinkables
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Wallace Hartley grew up in Colne, Lancashire, where his father led the local Methodist choir. He learned the violin from a fellow churchgoer and sang in the choir himself.
After a brief stint as a bank clerk, Hartley persuaded his father to let him leave the desk job. He began playing with orchestras, toured with small opera companies, and performed at seaside resorts. The work was steady, not glamorous.
By 1909, Hartley had found more reliable work at sea. He joined the Cunard Line and performed on the Lusitania and Mauretania - two of the era’s grandest liners. Music was expected on board, and Hartley made sure he always had the latest tunes ready.
After a brief stint as a bank clerk, Hartley persuaded his father to let him leave the desk job. He began playing with orchestras, toured with small opera companies, and performed at seaside resorts. The work was steady, not glamorous.
By 1909, Hartley had found more reliable work at sea. He joined the Cunard Line and performed on the Lusitania and Mauretania - two of the era’s grandest liners. Music was expected on board, and Hartley made sure he always had the latest tunes ready.
On layovers in New York, he would go straight to Tin Pan Alley to buy the latest sheet music.
24 May 1912 Titanic Band Memorial Concert
"This emotionally charged event took place just over a month after the Titanic passenger liner sank, causing the deaths of 1,514 people, including the bandmaster Henry Wallace Hartley and his eight musicians who died at their posts. 'The greatest professional orchestra ever assembled' included conductors Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Henry Wood and Thomas Beecham, and players from seven London orchestras including the Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Opera Orchestra.
2/17
The afternoon ended with the enormous orchestra and organ playing at full throttle, while the whole auditorium rose like a congregation to sing Nearer My God to Thee, the hymn that history tells us Hartley and his band were playing as the ship went down."
(via royalalberthall.com)
In 1910, Cunard outsourced music hiring to a Liverpool agency called C. W. & F.N. Black. Musicians were reclassified as second-class passengers. Neither the agency nor the cruise line took responsibility for their insurance.
In April 1912, just a day before departure, Hartley was asked to lead the band aboard Titanic’s maiden voyage. He accepted reluctantly. He’d recently gotten engaged to Maria Robinson.
Four days later, the Titanic struck an iceberg. As passengers boarded lifeboats, Hartley and his seven bandmates kept playing. None survived.
Days later, Hartley’s body was recovered, along with his violin, a gift from Maria, strapped to his body. In 2013, it sold at auction for £900,000.
His funeral was held in Colne. Over 40,000 people came. His headstone shows a violin and the opening bars of that hymn.
Their sacrifice should have meant security for their families. Instead, the White Star Line denied compensation, deferring to the agency. The agency passed the buck to its insurer, who claimed the musicians were freelancers—and owed nothing.
One family received a bill of Fourteen shillings for the uniform their son died in.
A month later, 473 musicians gathered at the Royal Albert Hall. Conducted by seven of Britain’s greatest maestros, they played one concert to raise money for the bereaved families. That concert, to this day, is considered the greatest professional orchestra ever assembled.
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