1. PROLOGUE-NIGHT: THE STARRY SKY

For me, one of the most evocative facts about the sinking of the Titanic is that it took place, not during a howling gale, with enormous waves crashing on the decks, but under a beautiful and peaceful starry sky, almost as though the universe was looking on unconcerned.

The music reflects this. A large, static string chord is held throughout, There are short notes in the woodwind like little stabs of starlight. Towards the end, and very quietly, the brass instruments play a verse of the hymn Eternal Father Strong to Save, which was played at a chapel service on board the Titanic, and whose last line, ironically, is 'Oh hear us when we cry to Thee, for those in peril on the sea'. The chorus hums quietly with the brass. During this section there is a composition from the Wider Opportunities group, who have been asked to create the idea of a peaceful starry night, using the notes of the string chord.

2. HARLAND AND WOOLF'S SHIPYARD: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TITANIC

A very rhythmic percussive beat is set up, using metallic sounds, to give the impression of a shipyard construction site. On top of this the woodwind and strings play very fast short phrases alternately, as if in conversation. The actual notes are variations of the first 8 notes of the tune 'Alexander's Ragtime Band', which was played on the Titanic. Gradually each group plays more and more notes until they are overlapping. There is a very big climax, the brass joining in with rich chords. Then, after everyone has played the introduction in unison, the Titanic Band play The White Star March, written for the company in 1887. The band play it on their own, then the full orchestra including the Wider Opportunities group, join in. There is a reprise of the first section with the percussion, orchestra fast notes and brass chords, but instead of ending very loudly, the music suddenly quietens, there are very rich and peaceful string chords, and the chorus sings quietly the first verse of the American Campfire song 'The Titanic' (which was very popular with the pupils when I taught class singing in the 70s). 'Oh they built the ship Titanic, to sail the ocean blue, and they thought they had a ship that the water would never go through, but the Lord's almighty hand knew that ship would never land, it was sad when that great ship when down. Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives, it was sad when that great ship went down'. The tune itself is very happy and jolly, but to counteract this, it's very slow and the string chords are very rich and romantic. It seemed appropriate that at a moment when everyone was full of pride at having created an 'unsinkable' ship, there should be a foretaste, in the music, of what was to come. The low strings at this point, play a rhythm consisting of 3 short notes (quavers), 3 long notes (crotchets) and 3 short notes - the morse code for SOS.

3. A GRAND OCCASION: THE LAUNCH OF THE TITANIC, HARLAND AND WOOLF'S SHIPYARD, BELFAST MAY 31 1911

To give a feel for such a brilliant occasion, there are brass and woodwind fanfares, then a new tune is played which is played as a round, starting in the woodwind, then going through the strings, then repeated all together, but with the Wider Opportunities group having their own round, which fits in with the main round, and the brass repeating the fanfares at the same time.

After a climax, the tuned percussion play on their own with the low strings providing the bass, producing a very bouncy, rhythmic feeling. The chorus comes in with the round tune, first in unison, then as a round, with words from the Belfast Newsletter of June 1st 1912. 'It was a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight and a thrill passed through the crowd as their hopes and expectations were realised.'

Once again, however, instead of a triumphant ending, everything suddenly goes quiet, and the chorus repeats the last lines ('It was sad') of the American Campfire song, this time accompanied by the Titanic Band playing a reminder of the White Star March. Music is able to take us into a world where the present and the future are intertwined.

4. THE MAIDEN VOYAGE
This is a purely orchestral piece for the youth orchestra. It starts by imagining the Titanic slowly leaving Southampton with slow brass music based on the tune of the White Star March. As the narrator says (quoting a newspaper from the time): 'The Titanic set out on her maiden trip. She slowly sped down Southampton Water, the faces of the passengers peering out along the whole length of the liner, until she melted away in the distance, and her maiden voyage had begun'.

Soon the woodwind set up an accompaniment designed to give the effect of bubbling water, and a majestic tune comes from the strings, a slow version of the fast passages from the music for the construction - based on Alexander's Ragtime Band. The roles are swapped - the strings take over the bubbling watery sounds and the woodwind play the tune. A grand climax is followed by everything slowly dying away as the Titanic 'melts away in the distance'.

5. DINNER AND DANCING - THE SHIP STRIKES THE ICEBERG

On board in the glittering dining salon, the Titanic Band comes into its own, as they play nearly continuously, as though they were really playing throughout dinner. 'Ship Ahoy! (All the Nice Girls love a Sailor) is followed without a break by 'I do like to be beside the Seaside'. At this point, the Band tunes up again and the iceberg strikes. This is represented by shuddering tremolos in the low strings, but for now, very quietly, as in the salon hardly anyone noticed anything. However, each time the instruments come in, there are shorter and shorter gaps and more and more instruments. The Band carries on playing regardless - 'Oh You Beautiful Doll' is followed by 'Arcady is Ever Young' with the interruptions getting louder and louder and closer together, until there is a huge climax which drowns out the Band and leads without a break into:

6. THE RADIO ROOM. SENDING MORSE CODE SIGNALS CQD AND SOS

The standard morse code message for an emergency was CQD - Come Quick Danger, (long short long short/long long short long/long short short). This turned into a musical rhythm and thundered out by the percussion and then the full orchestra. After this the Wider Opportunities group are invited to create a composition project based on this rhythm and that of SOS, firstly with a minute on their own, and then to go along with the orchestra and chorus. The orchestra is then given a chance to improvise using the CQD rhythm, but then all come together to play the SOS rhythm (short short short/long long long/short short short) which was used on the Titanic to replace CQD when it was realised that it took far less time to send. This rhythm is now used constantly for the whole of the rest of the section, sometimes with the whole orchestra, and sometimes, in the quieter sections with solo voices, with a single instrument - oboe or xylophone, for example.

Full orchestra outbursts of SOS are contrasted with quieter sections where sometimes soloists and sometimes the full chorus sing quotations from survivors' accounts telling of how they were taken to the lifeboats: (Marjorie Collyer age 7) 'Then mother dressed me took me by the hand, she led me upstairs, I had a big dolly but we were in such a hurry that we left it behind'.

A huge choral outburst with the orchestra still playing the SOS rhythm: 'Lower the boats, women and children first' is followed by everything getting quieter. The Band (now imagined to have brought their instruments out onto the deck) starts to play the sentimental ballad 'Somewhere a Voice is calling' with a baritone soloist. The words seemed very apt: 'Night and the stars are gleaming'. While the song continues, we hear from some of the passengers in their own words: 'I can't leave my husband, oh please let him come in the lifeboat. I don't want to live if he can't come with me.' All the time the SOS rhythm is playing somewhere in the orchestra. At the end of 'Somewhere a Voice' there is a final SOS outburst in the full orchestra, then a sudden hush leaves the chorus singing to the tune of the American song: 'We were told to get into a boat. The sea was calm and the stars were out'. The starry music from the Prologue makes a brief appearance and the Band starts playing their final song 'A dream of Autumn'. This leads directly to:

7. THE TITANIC SINKS

While the band plays, the orchestra comes in more and more frequently with massive tragic chords, as though mourning the passengers who didn't survive. The band finish the song and lay down their instruments. A final massive outburst from the orchestra, with the strings playing the American tune, leads our point of view away from the Titanic and on to one of the lifeboats: 'After rowing for a quarter of a mile, we stopped and watched the mammoth ship. I kept my eyes on the liner and could see six rows of portholes. I looked again and there were five rows, then only four and I knew she was going down. It was the most tragic sight anyone will ever witness. Score of men were standing on the decks. All the lights on the Titanic suddenly went out, and she slowly began to disappear from view.'

For the actual sinking, the music is very quiet and almost literal, starting very high and then slowly descending until the lowest notes are reached. The low strings reach their lowest note and the music goes straight to:

8. EPILOGUE. NIGHT: THE STARS

The chorus starts to sing 'Eternal father Strong to Save', with the audience joining in if possible, starting quietly and ending very loudly. When the verse is finished, the last line is repeated by the brass and wind, getting quieter and quieter, during which the strings build up the chord from the Prologue. The music from the prologue is repeated, but with a more peaceful chord, and with reminiscences of the White Star March from the oboe. The chorus quietly sings the ending of the American song: 'Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives, it was sad when that great ship went down', then nothing is left except for the night and the starry sky. The universe is once again looking on unconcerned.