On June 18th, 2023, around 10:47am NDT, the Polar Prince lost contact with the crew aboard the Titan submersible. The submersible was attempting to take the 4000+ meter plunge into the North Atlantic to tour the wreckage of the Titanic. An internation search and (presumed) rescue began that lasted four days, ending with the Titan’s debris being discovered across the ocean floor roughly 500 meters away from the bow of the unsinkable ship.
At the time of writing this piece, public interest in the Titan/OceanGate tragedy had peaked, due to the US Coast Guard’s public hearings about the incident occurring in September 2024. My morbid curiosity got the better of me, and this piece was written as an outlet for my fixation at the time.
3346m is a reference to the last recorded depth of the Titan submersible before it lost contact with the Polar Prince. The nearly continuous eighth notes and melancholic tone capture the allure of the Titan’s passengers, as well as their inevitable fate.
***The recording of this piece was performed on a Yamaha Disklavier. Thank you to Irving Aguirre for helping me set up and record this!
Molly Kay Wenzel 