THE TITANIC BAND MEMORIAL CONCERT

Under the auspices of the Orchestral Association a concert was given yesterday at the Albert Hall in honour of the musicians who perished in the Titanic disaster. The seven chief London orchestras - the Philharmonic, the Queen’s Hall, the London Symphony, the New Symphony, the Beecham Symphony, the Royal Opera, and the London Opera House - co-operated, and an immense audience attended to manifest their sympathy with the objects of the concert and their appreciation of the programme rendered by the combined orchestra of 500 players conducted by Sir Henry Wood, Sir Edward Elgar, Mr Percy Pitt, Mr Landon Ronald, Mr Thomas Beecham, M. Fritz Ernaldy, and Herr Mengelberg, who had travelled expressly from Berlin to lend his assistance.

Mme. Ada Crossley sang O Rest in the Lord, and for the rest, the programme consisted of well-known and well-loved orchestral items. The special character of the occasion was marked by the choice of Chopin’s Funeral March and Sullivan’s In Memoriam Overture as the first two numbers, and of the hymn Nearer My God to Thee, orchestrated by Sir Henry Wood, as the last; and these were followed with an almost devotional attention and sympathy, the choice of the hymn being heightened by the voices of many of the audience.