During the sinking of the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912, a string quartet was rumoured to have played the hymn 'Nearer, My God, to Thee'. Although this rumour has since been disproven by firsthand accounts, the popular tune was nonetheless included in James Cameron's 1997 film 'Titanic' as the ship sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean. The scene shows heartbreaking clips of some passengers accepting their fate whilst others try frantically to struggle into lifeboats or cling on to the vessel as she sinks. An infamous story from the event is that of Captain Edward John Smith, who bravely remained on the bridge during the evacuation. 

The cheery disposition of the piece is a reference to Hollywood and the media's sometimes careless exploitation of tragic events such as this. 

The piece uses the hexatonic scale heard in 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' (C, D, E, G, A, B in C major) and applies an alphanumeric code to the notes as they first appear in the tune/ The sequence becomes E(1), D(2), C(3), A(4), G(5), B(6). An alphanumeric code is then applied to the notes against the name E. Smith (ESMITH) dependent on the letters' place in the alphabet comparative to the rest of the letters, as shown below. 

E S M I T H 
1 5 4 3 6 2

This number code is then matched to the code created earlier detailing which notes appear in what order in the original hymn. The outcome of this is:

1 5 4 3 6 2
E G A C B D

This sequence of notes, derived from both the original hymn and the name 'E. Smith', is the sequence around which the entirety of the pitch material is based. 

Thanks to the Piatti Quartet for performing this revised/finished version of this piece in King Charles Court, 2015.

Captain E. Smith

Sandy Clark, born in Sheffield in 1993, is a British composer currently studying for a PhD in Composition at the University of Hull. Last year, he undertook an MMus in Composition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance under the supervision of Stephen Montague. Having graduated from the University of Hull in 2014 with First Class (Hons) degree in Music, Sandy has returned to Hull to undertake his PhD. Past performance venues of Sandy's work have been the University of Leeds, the University of Hull, Blackheath Halls, Trinity College of Music and the University of China, HK. Sandy's musical influences include Benjamin Britten, Dario Marianelli, John Adams and many others.