Another long weekend for me - sweet! Just worked out that way.
Here in Halifax, memorial events surrounding the 100th anniversary of the loss of Titanic are well under way. My dad was a self-named Titanimaniac, and once brought me to the Titanic graveyard where 121 victims of the sinking are buried - little realizing that one day, Fairview would also be his own resting place. As a scuba diver, his delirium of joy when the Titanic resting place was fiinally discovered in 1985 by the Ballard-Michel team was like winning the lottery for him.
I'm sending this week's set out to my dad, in memory of one of his great passions.
1 - In the Shadows - composed by Herman Finck
This piece is known to be included in the White Star Line Song Book. Music for the First Class passengers.
2 - The Boy I Love is Up in the Gallery - composed by George Ware, performed by Denise Murphy
For the Third Class passengers, a music hall song made popular by Marie Lloyd.
NOTE: sound level is low
3 - Dance Band on the Titanic - by Harry Chapin
4 - Nearer My God to Thee - composed by Sarah Flower Adams, performed by Johann Strauss Orchestra, conducted by Andre Rieu
It's highly likely that the playing of this hymn as the final song of the dance band is an urban legend. Wireless operator Harold Bride claimed that the last song he heard was Autumn, and as a member of the crew would have been closer to the ship before it went down than the first class passenger who recalled Nearer My God to Thee.
5 - Jesus, Lover of My Soul - composed by Charles Wesley, performed by Altar of Praise Chorale
Halifax mortician John Snow, Jr. gave this quote to the precursor of the local paper, The Evening Mail - "There was a special service for each body buried at sea, 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul' being sung."
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5 comments:
Whenever things get crazy around here, I sing "Dance Band on the Titanic". Great theme group and you resisted the other Canadian with My Heart Will Go On. :-)
Great historical spin this week...thanks
Jamie - Dance Band on the Titanic has been a longtime favorite of my husband's, so it's been sung under the right circumstances at our house over the years.
Vinny - I enjoyed finding the more historical pieces. Here in town there was a concert with a similar thread for the program, through Symphony Nova Scotia.
I've always been fascinated by Titanic. The legends and myths surrounding the ship are interesting, but the years since the final resting place were found have been so full of information about what really happened.
This is a terrific Set to commemorate 100 years.
Running a little behind this week. Great theme for this week. Titanic stuff has been everywhere. My favorite was the piece in the songbook for 1st Class passengers.
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