In Memorian Titanic, Op. 10, No. 1

Joseph Bonnet (1884 – 1944) was born in Bordeaux, and first studied with his father, an organist at St. Eulalie. At the age of 14, he became organist, first at St. Nicholas and almost immediately at St. Michael. He attended classes with Alexandre Guilmant at the Conservatoire de Paris. A few years later he finished with a first prize and, in 1906 was selected to become the organist at St. Eustache, Paris. In 1911 he succeeded Guilmant as concert organist at the conservatoire. In 1917 he moved to the United States, where he gave more than 100 concerts around the country until 1919. Bonnet founded the organ department of the Eastman School of Music in 1921. He composed a large number of organ pieces and compiled the six-volume Historical Organ Recitals. A few years later, he returned to Paris, and in 1937 took Louis Vierne's position as organ teacher and specialist at L’École César-Franck. In 1940, due to the outbreak of World War II, he was forced to leave France and returned to North America. He was organist at the Worcester Art Museum 1942-1943 and was appointed professor at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal in 1943.

"In Memoriam Titanic" was published by Alphonse Leduc in 1913. It is the first work in 12 Pièces, Op.10, and is dedicated: "To the memory of TITANIC'S heroes" - meaning the members of the ship's orchestra, who continued playing even as the ship sank, and all of them losing their lives.

The work is remarkable in its solemn impact. It presents images of disaster and plunging in eternal darkness, but at the core of the horror is the hymn, "Nearer my God to Thee," which is said to have been the last thing the band played.

For more info on the mystery of the tune played, please see an earlier upload: https://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/18294 for much more info.

Complete text of the hymn is given in the 1st Comment.

The score is attached below, as well as photos of Bonnet, Titanic's orchestra, and of the ship itself.