Sunday, December 9, 2007

...from aft came the tunes of the band....



...from aft came the tunes of the band..... the ship was gradually turning on her nose - just like a duck that goes down for a dive. i had only one thing on my mind - to get away from the suction. the band was still playing. i guess all of the band went down. they were playing autumn then. i swam with all my might. i suppose i was 150 feet away when the titanic, on her nose, with her afterquarter sticking straight up in the air, began to settle slowly.... the way the band kept playing was a noble thing. i heard it first while we were still working wireless, when there was a ragtime tune for us, and the last i saw of the band, when i was floating out in the sea with my lifebelt on, it was still on deck playing autumn. how they ever did it i cannot imagine.
account of harold bride, the junior wireless operator on the titanic, 1912

recordings (gavin bryars):
-the sinking of the titanic, obscure, 1975 (brian eno's label)
-the sinking of the titanic, crepuscule, 1990 (live recording)
-the sinking of the titanic, point, 1994
-the sinking of the titanic, touch, 2007 (with gavin bryars/philip jeck/alter ego)




roy ward baker: a night to remember, 1958