The captain goes down with the ship The captain goes down with the ship "The captain goes down with the ship" is an idiom and maritime tradition that a sea captain holds ultimate responsibility for both his ship and everyone embarked on it, and that in an emergency, he will either save them or die trying. Although often connected to the sinking of RMS "Titanic" in 1912 and its captain, Edward J. Smith, the phrase precedes "Titanic" by at least 11 years. In most instances, the captain of the ship forgoes his own rapid departure of a ship in distress, and concentrates instead on saving other people.
The Sinking of the Titanic Italian ensemble Alter Ego to perform the piece at the 49th International Festival of Contemporary Music at the Venice Biennale, and it was performed there at the Teatro Malibran on 1 October 2005 by Bryars with the Alter Ego Ensemble and English turntablist Philip Jeck. The performance was released on Touch Records in November 2007; catalogue number Touch 34. The Sinking of the Titanic The Sinking of the Titanic is a work by British minimalist composer Gavin Bryars. Inspired by the story that the band on the RMS "Titanic" continued to perform as the ship sank in 1912, it recreates