∼Roger Marie Bricoux (1 June 1891 – 15 April 1912) was a French cellist on the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage. He died with all other musicians in the sinking. Roger Bricoux was born on 1 June 1891 in rue de Donzy, Cosne-sur-Loire, Franc
The Carpathia trip was Bricoux's first time working as a musician at sea. On March 4, a few days after this concert, he mailed his parents a letter telling them about the trip: "The voyage is marvelous. We left Liverpool on February 10th and passed through Gibraltar, Tangier, Algeria, Malta, Alexandria, and Constantinople, then… Trieste, Fiume, Naples, and finally New York. I assure you that it is splendid. We had a storm but I wasn't at all seasick. I was amazed." On March 18, he wrote another letter telling them he would be joining the Titanic.
Back in New York on March 29, Bricoux and Brailey met with Wallace Hartley, the Titanic's bandmaster, for the first time, and the three of them traveled back to England on the Mauretania. On April 10, the three boarded the Titanic, meeting up with the five other musicians, John Wesley Woodward, Jock Hume, John Clarke, Georges Krins, and Percy Taylor.
Personal connections to the Titanic musicians.
The other performers listed in our Carpathia program were crew members. Because many of them were still on board the ship at the time of the famous rescue, we happen to know a lot about them.
Captain Arthur Rostron was in attendance. Edward Henry Hughes, singing a baritone aria and songs, was the Chief Steward. Seventh Engineer Douglas Hamilton Colquhoun performed humorous songs. "Mr. J. Barker" may be James William Barker, an Assistant Storekeeper. (2)
On the night of the Titanic rescue, James Barker grabbed his camera. The pictures he took, reproduced on these postcards in the Witherill collection, represent almost the only photographic evidence from that terrible night.(3)
It is chilling to realize that crew members on the Carpathia had personal connections to people on the Titanic, and had shared a stage with these two talented young musicians. When the Carpathia arrived on the scene at 4 am, after steaming at top speed, they expected to find a badly damaged ship, but all they found were 20 lifeboats in an icy sea. Not until the first survivors were brought aboard did they fully realize that the Titanic had sunk at 2:20 a.m.
What did the band play?
Our collection also gives us some hints about the music. This dance card from the Carpathia, from June 6, 1912, is an indication of what was popular at the time.
As for the Titanic, there is lively debate about what exactly the band played and especially about the last song they played. (4) Some survivors remembered dance music, and others clearly remembered them playing the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee." Wallace Hartley, the bandmaster, had once told a friend that if he ever found himself on a sinking ship he would play "Nearer my God to Thee," and that hymn became firmly associated with the disaster in the public's mind, as these postcards from the time show.
However, one survivor remembered that the last thing they played was a song he called "Autumn," which might have been a hymn but might have been a reference to the beautiful waltz "Songe d'Automne." Poignantly, that very waltz is the first selection on the Carpathia's dance program.
For much more detail about the musicians and the music, we recommend the book "The Band That Played On: The Extraordinary Story of the 8 Musicians Who Went Down with the TITANIC" by author Steve Turner
END NOTES
(1) The Carpathia was a Cunard Line ship, while the Titanic was a White Star Line ship. However, band members were not officially employees of the line. They worked for a company that contracted musicians to all of the steamers. Each line had standard books of music that musicians were expected to know and be able to play at the request of passengers.
(2) Barker was listed as playing a "phonofiddle." This was an instrument that was briefly popular in the early 20th century, with a neck like a violin, but with a trumpet like a phonograph rather than a traditional violin body.
(3) At least two passengers took photographs as well, and there is some confusion as the photographs that these postcards attribute to Barker have sometimes been attributed to passenger Louis Mansfield Ogden.
(4) It is also unclear what instrument the pianist Brailey would have been playing, but author Steve Turner notes that he played multiple instruments, so perhaps he picked up something else to play that night.
The Carpathia trip was Bricoux's first time working as a musician at sea. On March 4, a few days after this concert, he mailed his parents a letter telling them about the trip: "The voyage is marvelous. We left Liverpool on February 10th and passed through Gibraltar, Tangier, Algeria, Malta, Alexandria, and Constantinople, then… Trieste, Fiume, Naples, and finally New York. I assure you that it is splendid. We had a storm but I wasn't at all seasick. I was amazed." On March 18, he wrote another letter telling them he would be joining the Titanic.
Back in New York on March 29, Bricoux and Brailey met with Wallace Hartley, the Titanic's bandmaster, for the first time, and the three of them traveled back to England on the Mauretania. On April 10, the three boarded the Titanic, meeting up with the five other musicians, John Wesley Woodward, Jock Hume, John Clarke, Georges Krins, and Percy Taylor.
Personal connections to the Titanic musicians.
The other performers listed in our Carpathia program were crew members. Because many of them were still on board the ship at the time of the famous rescue, we happen to know a lot about them.
Captain Arthur Rostron was in attendance. Edward Henry Hughes, singing a baritone aria and songs, was the Chief Steward. Seventh Engineer Douglas Hamilton Colquhoun performed humorous songs. "Mr. J. Barker" may be James William Barker, an Assistant Storekeeper. (2)
On the night of the Titanic rescue, James Barker grabbed his camera. The pictures he took, reproduced on these postcards in the Witherill collection, represent almost the only photographic evidence from that terrible night.(3)
It is chilling to realize that crew members on the Carpathia had personal connections to people on the Titanic, and had shared a stage with these two talented young musicians. When the Carpathia arrived on the scene at 4 am, after steaming at top speed, they expected to find a badly damaged ship, but all they found were 20 lifeboats in an icy sea. Not until the first survivors were brought aboard did they fully realize that the Titanic had sunk at 2:20 a.m.
What did the band play?
Our collection also gives us some hints about the music. This dance card from the Carpathia, from June 6, 1912, is an indication of what was popular at the time.
As for the Titanic, there is lively debate about what exactly the band played and especially about the last song they played. (4) Some survivors remembered dance music, and others clearly remembered them playing the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee." Wallace Hartley, the bandmaster, had once told a friend that if he ever found himself on a sinking ship he would play "Nearer my God to Thee," and that hymn became firmly associated with the disaster in the public's mind, as these postcards from the time show.
However, one survivor remembered that the last thing they played was a song he called "Autumn," which might have been a hymn but might have been a reference to the beautiful waltz "Songe d'Automne." Poignantly, that very waltz is the first selection on the Carpathia's dance program.
For much more detail about the musicians and the music, we recommend the book "The Band That Played On: The Extraordinary Story of the 8 Musicians Who Went Down with the TITANIC" by author Steve Turner
END NOTES
(1) The Carpathia was a Cunard Line ship, while the Titanic was a White Star Line ship. However, band members were not officially employees of the line. They worked for a company that contracted musicians to all of the steamers. Each line had standard books of music that musicians were expected to know and be able to play at the request of passengers.
(2) Barker was listed as playing a "phonofiddle." This was an instrument that was briefly popular in the early 20th century, with a neck like a violin, but with a trumpet like a phonograph rather than a traditional violin body.
(3) At least two passengers took photographs as well, and there is some confusion as the photographs that these postcards attribute to Barker have sometimes been attributed to passenger Louis Mansfield Ogden.
(4) It is also unclear what instrument the pianist Brailey would have been playing, but author Steve Turner notes that he played multiple instruments, so perhaps he picked up something else to play that night.
∼Roger Marie Bricoux (1 June 1891 – 15 April 1912) was a French cellist on the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage. He died with all other musicians in the sinking. Roger Bricoux was born on 1 June 1891 in rue de Donzy, Cosne-sur-Loire, Franc
The Carpathia trip was Bricoux's first time working as a musician at sea. On March 4, a few days after this concert, he mailed his parents a letter telling them about the trip: "The voyage is marvelous. We left Liverpool on February 10th and passed through Gibraltar, Tangier, Algeria, Malta, Alexandria, and Constantinople, then… Trieste, Fiume, Naples, and finally New York. I assure you that it is splendid. We had a storm but I wasn't at all seasick. I was amazed." On March 18, he wrote another letter telling them he would be joining the Titanic.
Back in New York on March 29, Bricoux and Brailey met with Wallace Hartley, the Titanic's bandmaster, for the first time, and the three of them traveled back to England on the Mauretania. On April 10, the three boarded the Titanic, meeting up with the five other musicians, John Wesley Woodward, Jock Hume, John Clarke, Georges Krins, and Percy Taylor.
Personal connections to the Titanic musicians.
The other performers listed in our Carpathia program were crew members. Because many of them were still on board the ship at the time of the famous rescue, we happen to know a lot about them.
Captain Arthur Rostron was in attendance. Edward Henry Hughes, singing a baritone aria and songs, was the Chief Steward. Seventh Engineer Douglas Hamilton Colquhoun performed humorous songs. "Mr. J. Barker" may be James William Barker, an Assistant Storekeeper. (2)
On the night of the Titanic rescue, James Barker grabbed his camera. The pictures he took, reproduced on these postcards in the Witherill collection, represent almost the only photographic evidence from that terrible night.(3)
It is chilling to realize that crew members on the Carpathia had personal connections to people on the Titanic, and had shared a stage with these two talented young musicians. When the Carpathia arrived on the scene at 4 am, after steaming at top speed, they expected to find a badly damaged ship, but all they found were 20 lifeboats in an icy sea. Not until the first survivors were brought aboard did they fully realize that the Titanic had sunk at 2:20 a.m.
What did the band play?
Our collection also gives us some hints about the music. This dance card from the Carpathia, from June 6, 1912, is an indication of what was popular at the time.
As for the Titanic, there is lively debate about what exactly the band played and especially about the last song they played. (4) Some survivors remembered dance music, and others clearly remembered them playing the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee." Wallace Hartley, the bandmaster, had once told a friend that if he ever found himself on a sinking ship he would play "Nearer my God to Thee," and that hymn became firmly associated with the disaster in the public's mind, as these postcards from the time show.
However, one survivor remembered that the last thing they played was a song he called "Autumn," which might have been a hymn but might have been a reference to the beautiful waltz "Songe d'Automne." Poignantly, that very waltz is the first selection on the Carpathia's dance program.
For much more detail about the musicians and the music, we recommend the book "The Band That Played On: The Extraordinary Story of the 8 Musicians Who Went Down with the TITANIC" by author Steve Turner
END NOTES
(1) The Carpathia was a Cunard Line ship, while the Titanic was a White Star Line ship. However, band members were not officially employees of the line. They worked for a company that contracted musicians to all of the steamers. Each line had standard books of music that musicians were expected to know and be able to play at the request of passengers.
(2) Barker was listed as playing a "phonofiddle." This was an instrument that was briefly popular in the early 20th century, with a neck like a violin, but with a trumpet like a phonograph rather than a traditional violin body.
(3) At least two passengers took photographs as well, and there is some confusion as the photographs that these postcards attribute to Barker have sometimes been attributed to passenger Louis Mansfield Ogden.
(4) It is also unclear what instrument the pianist Brailey would have been playing, but author Steve Turner notes that he played multiple instruments, so perhaps he picked up something else to play that night.
The Carpathia trip was Bricoux's first time working as a musician at sea. On March 4, a few days after this concert, he mailed his parents a letter telling them about the trip: "The voyage is marvelous. We left Liverpool on February 10th and passed through Gibraltar, Tangier, Algeria, Malta, Alexandria, and Constantinople, then… Trieste, Fiume, Naples, and finally New York. I assure you that it is splendid. We had a storm but I wasn't at all seasick. I was amazed." On March 18, he wrote another letter telling them he would be joining the Titanic.
Back in New York on March 29, Bricoux and Brailey met with Wallace Hartley, the Titanic's bandmaster, for the first time, and the three of them traveled back to England on the Mauretania. On April 10, the three boarded the Titanic, meeting up with the five other musicians, John Wesley Woodward, Jock Hume, John Clarke, Georges Krins, and Percy Taylor.
Personal connections to the Titanic musicians.
The other performers listed in our Carpathia program were crew members. Because many of them were still on board the ship at the time of the famous rescue, we happen to know a lot about them.
Captain Arthur Rostron was in attendance. Edward Henry Hughes, singing a baritone aria and songs, was the Chief Steward. Seventh Engineer Douglas Hamilton Colquhoun performed humorous songs. "Mr. J. Barker" may be James William Barker, an Assistant Storekeeper. (2)
On the night of the Titanic rescue, James Barker grabbed his camera. The pictures he took, reproduced on these postcards in the Witherill collection, represent almost the only photographic evidence from that terrible night.(3)
It is chilling to realize that crew members on the Carpathia had personal connections to people on the Titanic, and had shared a stage with these two talented young musicians. When the Carpathia arrived on the scene at 4 am, after steaming at top speed, they expected to find a badly damaged ship, but all they found were 20 lifeboats in an icy sea. Not until the first survivors were brought aboard did they fully realize that the Titanic had sunk at 2:20 a.m.
What did the band play?
Our collection also gives us some hints about the music. This dance card from the Carpathia, from June 6, 1912, is an indication of what was popular at the time.
As for the Titanic, there is lively debate about what exactly the band played and especially about the last song they played. (4) Some survivors remembered dance music, and others clearly remembered them playing the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee." Wallace Hartley, the bandmaster, had once told a friend that if he ever found himself on a sinking ship he would play "Nearer my God to Thee," and that hymn became firmly associated with the disaster in the public's mind, as these postcards from the time show.
However, one survivor remembered that the last thing they played was a song he called "Autumn," which might have been a hymn but might have been a reference to the beautiful waltz "Songe d'Automne." Poignantly, that very waltz is the first selection on the Carpathia's dance program.
For much more detail about the musicians and the music, we recommend the book "The Band That Played On: The Extraordinary Story of the 8 Musicians Who Went Down with the TITANIC" by author Steve Turner
END NOTES
(1) The Carpathia was a Cunard Line ship, while the Titanic was a White Star Line ship. However, band members were not officially employees of the line. They worked for a company that contracted musicians to all of the steamers. Each line had standard books of music that musicians were expected to know and be able to play at the request of passengers.
(2) Barker was listed as playing a "phonofiddle." This was an instrument that was briefly popular in the early 20th century, with a neck like a violin, but with a trumpet like a phonograph rather than a traditional violin body.
(3) At least two passengers took photographs as well, and there is some confusion as the photographs that these postcards attribute to Barker have sometimes been attributed to passenger Louis Mansfield Ogden.
(4) It is also unclear what instrument the pianist Brailey would have been playing, but author Steve Turner notes that he played multiple instruments, so perhaps he picked up something else to play that night.
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