Verbal Magazine

Songs in the Night

Their story is unequalled in maritime history. Their last act of bravery made headline news, and has since become enshrined in popular culture. For the first time ever, a book has been written about them.

They are the eight musicians who went down with the Titanic. They were the ones who played soothing songs and hymns to quell the storms of panic and help survivors to hang on to hope – amid the horror of the icy Atlantic.

‘As the screams in the water multiplied,’ said a syndicated news report, ‘another sound was heard…It was the melody of the hymn Nearer, My God, To Thee’, played by the string orchestra in the dining saloon.

‘Some of those on the water started to sing the words, but grew silent as they realised that for the men who played, the music was a sacrament soon to be consummated by death.’ It was a ‘symphony of sorrow’.

Published in time for the recent launch centenary of the ill-fated vessel, The Band That Played On was researched and written by well known rock journalist Steve Turner.

Now 61, he wrote such books as Van Morrison: Too Late To Stop Now, co-wrote U2: Rattle And Hum – and has written on a virtual galaxy of stars for publications like Mojo and Rolling Stone.

To a list of his volumes and articles that have featured legends like The Beatles, Eric Clapton – and most recently, Dolly Parton – Turner has now added the stories of one of the most famous bands in history.

They were – bandleader and violinist Wallace Hartley, cellist Roger Bricoux, pianist William ‘Theo’ Brailey, cellist Wes Woodward, violinist Jock Hume, pianist Percy Taylor, bass player John Clarke and violinist Georges Krins.

Each of their stories offers intriguing angles. For example, Brailey had allegedly been warned against sailing on the Titanic by his spiritualist father Ronald.

Woodward had been part of the private orchestra for the Cavendish household, one of the most powerful families in Britain. Krins and Taylor played at London’s Ritz Hotel.

They were all stellar musicians, but were paid a low wage and consigned to second class as passengers – not as crew. Yet they have become a key feature of the ship’s legend.

US-based Thomas Nelson contacted Turner about writing a book on the Titanic story. ‘Why would anyone choose me to do something on that?’ Turner recalled. ‘I immediately thought it was something to do with the band.

‘I did a quick bit of research and found there wasn’t much that had been written about them – a few pages in total.’ This assignment would mean starting from scratch.

He’s always been interested in music and the context in which it was created. Turner wrote Amazing Grace, a study on the classic hymn, which charted the song’s story and the associated campaign against slavery.

Research for that had already taken him into similar areas. He had to look into shipping matters, as hymnwriter John Newton had been a sailor. ‘So I had the background,’ he said, ‘but it did present new challenges.’

When writing about artists like Marvin Gaye and Johnny Cash, Turner has interviewed people close to them, and listened to their albums. But this was a band without recordings, and the ship’s last survivor died a few years ago.

‘I looked at books about the Titanic,’ he said, ‘and looked at websites and national newspaper libraries. Then I started to look at local newspapers.’

He also read articles printed in specialist publications. For instance, the father of one of the musicians had been a clairvoyant, and Turner found something that had been published in a psychic magazine.

‘I tried to find surviving relatives,’ he pointed out, ‘but that was quite difficult.’ Other sources of information included court case reports, American libraries and actually visiting the hometowns of some musicians.

He travelled to Colne, Lancashire, birthplace of bandleader Hartley. There he found the family home, the old Wesleyan School where the Methodist musician was educated, and the former bank building where he’d worked.

Events took an interesting turn when researching at the Royal Academy of Music. Turner got to know the librarian. She tipped him off that someone had been asking about violins – whose grandfather had been on the Titanic.

This second researcher turned out to be former editor of the Daily Express, Christopher Ward. He was grandson of Jock Hume, the band’s violinist. Ward was working on Home’s story.

Turner and Ward swapped notes. Ward also completed his book, which came out two months after Turner’s. By coincidence, it was called And The Band Played On..., and was published by UK-based Hodder and Stoughton.

Both writers uncovered similar things about the cruel class culture of the Titanic – which applied in death as in life. ‘The only reason some of the musicians’ bodies were preserved is because they had uniforms on,’ said Turner, reflecting on how the deceased were treated.

‘If you weren’t lord somebody or had a lot of money in your pocket, they just assumed you were third class – and back into the sea you went.’ Families were expected to pay for their loved ones’ bodies to be sent back to England.

However, amid such chilling discoveries, Turner also experienced some encouraging breakthroughs. He came across an account by a reporter on the Carpathia, the ship which picked up survivors.

‘The journalist was from the St Louis Post-Despatch,’ said Turner, ‘and finding his hand-written notes was great. As far as I know, they haven’t been quoted before.’ It was Carlos F Hurd’s story that first told the world about the band playing on.

In addition, Turner happened upon one of the greatest mysteries of the story. An unnamed source showed him photographs of what could be the recovered violin of Wallace Hartley. If proved authentic, it could be worth a fortune.

But such finds didn’t come easily. ‘I was going down two or three generations – sometimes even four,’ he recalled. ‘So every time I discovered someone’s relative was a delight. It was really tough work.’ However, it paid off. One reviewer said the result was like reading a thriller.

What made the job even more challenging for Turner was the fact that, while he was researching the lives and deaths of these musicians, his own mother was dying of cancer. He dedicated the book to her.

‘To my mother, Ivy Frances Turner,’ says the opening note, ‘who first gave me a love of history.’ If he’d ever had a question about his own family story, his mother would’ve had the answer. But that link is gone, just like many connections in the ship’s story.

So the book is more than just a record of musicians and their families. It’s a poignant reminder of Turner’s personal loss, and a memorial to his mother.

‘I kind of felt that mum was going down with the Titanic,’ he said. ‘It felt a bit like that.’

(biog)

Clive Price is a frequent contributor to Verbal. His own latest work is The Wonder Tree, a children’s storybook published by World Vision. Steve Turner’s book The Band That Played On is published by Thomas Nelson.

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