Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Music for a 19th century hymn by Sarah Flower Adams. It was sung by the passengers and crew of SS Valencia as it sank in 1906, and in 1912 it was the last tune played by the band on RMS Titanic before it went down, according to some survivors. Which melody the musicians on the Titanic played is debated -- it was likely either the "Horbury" version or the "Propior Deo" version; least likely is the "Bethany" version used in most filmatisations of the tragedy.
SS Valencia had 37 survivors, but 136 perished. The last group of survivors were reportedly "well-nigh crazed" by the sight of the remaining passengers on the ship:
"[...] the brave faces looking at them over the broken rail of a wreck and of the echo of that great hymn sung by the women who, looking death smilingly in the face, were able in the fog and mist and flying spray to remember: Nearer, My God, to Thee."
Artwork of the Titanic by Ken Marschall.
This recording is from the soundtrack to the 2003 documentary "Ghosts of the Abyss", directed by James Cameron.
Music for a 19th century hymn by Sarah Flower Adams. It was sung by the passengers and crew of SS Valencia as it sank in 1906, and in 1912 it was the last tune played by the band on RMS Titanic before it went down, according to some survivors. Which melody the musicians on the Titanic played is debated -- it was likely either the "Horbury" version or the "Propior Deo" version; least likely is the "Bethany" version used in most filmatisations of the tragedy.
SS Valencia had 37 survivors, but 136 perished. The last group of survivors were reportedly "well-nigh crazed" by the sight of the remaining passengers on the ship:
"[...] the brave faces looking at them over the broken rail of a wreck and of the echo of that great hymn sung by the women who, looking death smilingly in the face, were able in the fog and mist and flying spray to remember: Nearer, My God, to Thee."
Artwork of the Titanic by Ken Marschall.
This recording is from the soundtrack to the 2003 documentary "Ghosts of the Abyss", directed by James Cameron.
