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  • 2021-04-15 (xsd:date)
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  • Was This Violin Played on the Titanic? (en)
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  • On April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. One of the most storied events of the ship's tragic sinking (and one of the most famous scenes from James Cameron's 1997 movie Titanic) involves a group of musicians that continued to play as the ship began its descent into the icy waters: In April 2021, around the anniversary of the ship's sinking, a photograph was circulated on social media supposedly showing the violin that the band's leader, Wallace Hartley, had played aboard the Titanic: This is a genuine image of Hartley's violin. Hartley, unfortunately, as well as the other seven members of the Titanic's orchestra, perished during the disaster along with more than 1,500 other passengers (out of an estimated 2,224 people on board). Hartley's body was found 10 days after the ship's sinking and according to some accounts the violin was strapped to his body. The instrument would soon make it to Hartley's fiancee, Maria Robinson, who would keep it until her death in 1939. The violin changed hands a few times after that, then sat largely forgotten in an attic in England for decades until it was discovered again in 2006. A seven-year investigation ensued until the violin was officially authenticated as Hartley's Titanic violin. In 2013, it was sold at auction for $1,454,400, making it the most valuable artifact recovered from the Titanic. Here's how the Titanic Museum Attraction in Branson, Missouri, where the violin has been periodically displayed since 2013, describes the instrument's journey from Hartley's hands to auction: Although this violin truly belonged to Wallace Hartley and was truly being played as the Titanic sank to its watery grave, there is some dispute about what song Hartley and the other band members played during this disaster. The most common claim (and the one featured in the movie Titanic) is that Hartley and the band played the hymn Nearer, My God, To Thee as the ship sank. A 1912 newspaper clipping notes that this song was also played at Hartley's funeral: 19 May 1912, Sun The Washington Post (Washington, District of Columbia) Newspapers.com However, other accounts claim that the final song played aboard the Titanic was Autumn. We took a deeper look into the Titanic band's final song here. (en)
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