Titanic-Orchestra’s Perspective

A young man in a suit slowly drew his bow over the strings on his violin. The notes hung in the air and seemed to sparkle. The rest of the orchestra drew their last notes also. The cellow bellowed it’s final note softly, leaving a small group surrounding them in awe.

The director gathered the orchestra into a group, they whispered and nodded. As soon as everyone took their places, the director started swinging his hands, motioning for the wind instrument players to begin.

The men and even a woman brought their flutes and clarinets to their lips and began playing an upbeat, swinging tune. The trumpet players positioned themselves and began some steady notes, giving the music some solidity to the swirling of the wind players.

The young man who was playing the violin, brought it up and poised his bow, waiting for the director’s motion to begin. His foot tapped along with the beat and his bow never slowed. The music swept around and around, keeping the listeners entertained.

They ended the music with a few short, quick notes and lowered their instruments, breathless. The crowd clapped and danced excitedly, the music had sparked new energy in everyone’s spirit that evening.

As the orchestra took a moment to rest, the violinist adjusted his tuning on the violin. His blue eyes darted around, watching the people moving aboard the ship. The sky was slowly starting to fade to black. He held the violin up and tested his tuning, satisfied, he set it down and waited for the other members to finish their tuning.

Small children milled around the orchestra members. The violinsit smiled at a darling little girl, her bright yellow curls bounced as she danced in a circle. Silence ensued everyone as they sat on the deck. Suddenly, a hard bump jostled the whole ship. Everyone gasped and steadied themselves.

“We’ve hit an iceberg!” A faint cry sounded from further away.

Some women gasped and grabbed their suitor’s arms and mothers grabbed their children’s hands. A man from the crowd walked out and shouted. “No worries, folks! This ship is unsinkable! Nothing to worry about.” His voice was filled with confidence. “Orchestra, would you please play something upbeat for us?” He waved at the director.

The orchestra members stood. The same violinst stood and poised his bow over the violin. The director started the stringed players section, the violinist moved his bow back and forth, his foot keeping time. The night sky had now come, stars shining brightly.

About 20 minutes later, near the middle of the song, a panicked shout sounded from somewhere. “The ship has sprung a leak!! We’re all gonna die! The ship is going to sink!” Screams sounded as the people were sent into a panic.

The violinst’s hands started to shake, but he kept playing. It was his duty to help keep the spirits up in the midst of this trouble. He swallowed hard, nearly choking on the fear building into his chest. The orchestra had vowed earlier that night, no matter what happened, they would keep playing.

People swarmed everywhere, women screamed for their children. Lifeboats were starting to get lowered. The music ended for a split second before shifting to a more calm, soothing song. The stars twinkled innocently in the sky above. Panicked screams sounded from people all around. Footsteps bounded across the deck. The orchestra kept playing, despite the chaos. The ship seemed to slowly lower into the icy ocean. The violinist blinked back tears, he focused on playing.

“Women and children on the lifeboats!” A male voice shouted into the darkness. Women and children scurried to the lifeboats, they were packed with people. Everyone was going crazy.

The orchestra had finished six songs, or so, as the last lifeboat lowered. The ship started to move vertically, throwing everyone off balance. The orchestra moved to playing the song, “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” The violinist drew his notes softly on the violin. The ship started to go more vertical, causing people to fall into the dark, icy waters. The orchestra members fell, one by one. Only two were left, the violinist, who now found a stable place to stand, and a flute player, who stood next to him. They slowly drew the last notes of the song, “Nearer, my God, to Thee”. The ship suddenly snapped, the one half sunk rapidly and was sucked into the waters. The other half also started sinking. The violinist let his tears fall freely. Icy water soon reached his neck, he drew in a deep breath and held it as the water filled in over his head.

His eyes stung in the icy waters, he pushed as hard as he could with his legs to reach the surface. The water pulled him further down, he pushed harder against the swirling water that pulled dozens of other people down. He somehow managed to make it out of the swirling water, his whole body numb, and his lungs ready to burst, he finally broke through the surface.

His teeth chattered uncontrollably as he was treading water to stay afloat. The man’s lips had turned slightly blue. His teeth knocked against one another as he could no longer feel any part of his body. Thoughts flew to his mind: thoughts of the tight hugs he gave before leaving his beloved wife, thoughts of the tears they shed, thoughts of how his parents begged him to stay. The frigid water lapped against his body, he fought harder to stay afloat as his arms and legs grew stiff. One last thought tormented him, an image of his new wife, now heartbroken, lost, and grieved by the loss of her husband. His extremeties could no longer move, and his body slipped into the dark, frigid ocean depths.

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I’m not sure exactly how accurate I got this historically, so if any of you readers notice a mistake in it, please tell me and I can fix it. :) Hope you all enjoy it!