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MMD > Archives > August 2013 > 2013.08.30 > 01Prev  Next


Musical Pig Aboard Titanic Lifeboat Identified
By Julie Porter

Impressive 3D scan of Titanic's musical pig

It was French automata that lead to my interest in mechanical music.
I saw on the Fortean Times RSS feed that music from the legendary pig
automata that was used in the film "A Night to Remember" about the
sinking of the Titanic has been identified.  From the RSS link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/titanic-anniversary/10262348/Mystery-of-eerie-music-played-as-Titanic-sank-is-solved.html

Rory McEvoy, a curator at the museum, said, "We would like to thank
everyone for their enthusiastic response in naming the Titanic musical
toy pigs tune and are delighted to be able to confirm that the tune is
"La Sorella", composed in around 1905 by Charles Borel-Clerc.  The tune
is also known as "La Matchiche", which confirms the attribution that
came to the Museum with the pig in 2003."

More impressive are the 3D scan on the museums web site (scroll down
about halfway past the section on the watch):

http://blogs.rmg.co.uk/collections/2012/12/06/an-extraordinary-day-when-time-and-a-pig-flew%E2%80%A6/ 

It looks like there is enough detail of the pinned barrel that the
arrangement could be recovered from it and converted to a MIDI file.
There is a link on the above to the recording of the song as played.

The song sounds typical of these late 19th or early 20th century French
toy automatons.  I suspect, given the number of catalogs from these
makers that have survived, that the manufacture can probably be
identified, by those on the list that work on these things and price
similar items for auction.

It would not surprise me if those who still make novelty musical boxes,
make this song again.  Or even if the successor company still has the
masters for it?  The makers star logo is plainly visible.

Julie Porter

 [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vTFWXkX8Bc  the Titanic music box pig
 [
 [ George Gershwin quoted the catchy melody in "American in Paris" (1928)
 [ and Teresa Brewer recorded it as "Choo'n Gum" (1950).  The tune was
 [ revived as Passepartout's theme in the 1956 movie "Around the World
 [ in Eighty Days".  The song, adapted by Charles Borel-Clerc for French
 [ entertainer Félix Mayol, was published as "La Mattchiche" or (in Canada)
 [ "La Sorella".  Hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keFiENu-NQU 
 [ -- Robbie


(Message sent Fri 30 Aug 2013, 18:38:31 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.)

Key Words in Subject:  Aboard, Identified, Lifeboat, Musical, Pig, Titanic

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