Titanic's orchestra had 8 musicians. They were arranged as two separate ensembles: a five-piece group led by bandmaster and violinist Wallace Hartley, and a three-piece trio that performed in the À La Carte Restaurant and Café Parisien.
The musicians were recruited through the Liverpool agency C.W. and F.N. Black rather than being White Star Line employees. They boarded at Southampton and travelled in second class, despite performing for passengers in the ship's first-class areas.
After Titanic struck the iceberg on the night of April 14–15, 1912, the musicians gathered and played to help calm passengers during the evacuation. All eight died in the sinking. Accounts traditionally say that the final tune was “Nearer, My God, to Thee,” although survivor testimony and later research leave the exact last piece uncertain.
The number is sometimes confused with 10 or 12 because modern retellings may imagine one large orchestra, or combine Titanic's musicians with other shipboard performers. The official Titanic orchestra consisted of eight players.