Wanted: someone to play violin on the Titanic

Wanted: someone to play violin on the Titanic

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norman lebrecht

March 28, 2011

An article in the tabloid Sunday Mirror reports the possible rediscovery of an instrument that may have been played on the Titanic as it went down.

I have inserted several disclaimers into that sentence. You may wish to add more.
The instrument is the subject of a new book by pop biographer Steve Turner. He is coy about disclosing where and how the instrument was found, and how it might be considered playable after a hundred years’ immersion at the bottom of the ocean.
However, he claims it is being subjected to tests at a reputable auction house and, if validated, if going to be sent on tour next year before a public sale, at which he estimates it might fetch as much as a million pounds.
Here’s the story.

The putative value of this object has, of course, nothing to do with music. It is merely accompaniment to the Winslet-DiCaprio romance.
The bandleader’s name, by the way, was Wallace Hartley.


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