Music on the Titanic

It is 1892 and you have just graduated music school. Your focus was on the piano. You have been playing since you where 3 and to many a prodigy. You graduated top of your class. You have a choice to make. What to do with your degree and ability.

Your choices are become the greatest pianist the world has known. That will be hard to do considering there was Beethoven. You could teach or join a group.

You eventually do all three. First you decide to make a solo career. You write and preform. You are successful at it. You are preforming for thousands of people. Your fans love you and your music. You end up creating a masterpiece that will be played long after you are gone. You decide after that piece you should retire from a solo career.

Your next career you decide to teach. You have a little trouble at first because you have been doing solo for so long. You have to learn how to teach the basics. Once you figure it out your students love you.

As you get more comfortable you start to teach more advance classes. Your students love that they are learning from a master. You start to win a lot of awards for your teaching ability. Your students from the advance classes are also starting to win awards. You are a great teacher. You end up teaching for ten years. You are sad to give up teaching but like with your solo career you have done enough.

Your students have become the masters themselves. One of your students created a solo piece that in your and everyone else’s opinion is better than yours. That was your greatest achievement and the moment you decide to not be a teacher anymore.

That was in 1907. You decide to rest for a while. You are 35 and have achieved even more than you could have imagined. You decide to actually go out and live your life for once. You get a girlfriend. She surprisingly does not know who you are. That is nice for once. She gets to know you without all the fame and preconceived notions fame can bring.

When she finds out who you are she is surprised but totally fine with it. After almost a year of dating you ask her to marry you. She says yes and you start to plan a wedding. You get married in a small ceremony two months later.

A year into the marriage you hear of an opportunity to play on one of the Cunard streamers. You talk it over with your wife and she thinks it is a good idea. They say it will be an honor to have a master play on their ship. You are a little concerned that you will be considered a second-class citizen on the ship. You decide that you will do it anyway.

You start on the ship in 1910. You are having fun playing on the ship. You meet a lot of musicians and become friends with them. You really never had friends before besides your students. You where always a loner. It is great to have friends now.

On one of your breaks, you find out your wife is pregnant. You are over the moon with excitement. At almost the same time you hear of an opportunity to be on the maiden voyage of a new ship. That ship is the Titanic.

You talk it over with your wife. It is set to set sail a month after the baby is born. They are offering you Bandmaster. You are excited to be Bandmaster. You and your wife agree you should do it.

A month before you are supposed to leave you break your arm getting off your ship. You where rushing to get to the birth of your son and slipped and fell on your arm. You make it just in time and after you see your son born you go get a cast.

The problem now is that you can not go on the Titanic. You are really disappointed that you will not be able to go. The one upside is that you will get to spend more time with your wife and newborn son. Another good thing is that one of your former students is taking your place. You are excited to see someone you taught take your place.

You are there when the Titanic launches on April 2, 1912. You are just one of the many that are happy for everyone on the Titanic. You are kept updated on what is happening on the ship by your former student. They are having a great time.

Then you get a Telegram saying that the Titanic has hit an iceberg and is dinking. You are devastated. You are worried for everyone especially your former student and the other band members.

As the survivors reach the shore you start to hear stories about the musicians. You learn that they played the whole time the ship was sinking. They literally went down with the ship. They are considered hero’s for keeping the people somewhat calm.

It takes you a long time to become ok with what happened. At first you think it should have been you and not your former student. Then you slowly realize that you are still her for your wife and son.

It turns out with your teachings your son really does become the greatest pianist in the world.

In the end you are happy with your life. A broken arm saved your life.