Brass bands, icebergs and jazz : music on passenger shipping 1880–1939

Musicians have been employed by shipping lines to entertain passengers during long sea days for well over a century. This vocation continues to provide musicians with the opportunity to earn a living while travelling aboard modern cruise ships. Despite this long heritage, almost no research has been conducted into the history of music on passenger shipping. This paper provides a general overview of the first 50 years of shipboard musical performance. Beginning with the first steward-musicians of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Line, the paper charts the major changes in commodified musical performance during the golden age of passenger shipping. Shipboard musical performance reflected the contemporary tastes of high society and, while often conservative in its reflection of land-based popular culture, was at the cutting edge of entertainment technology. Shipboard musical performances are found to have changed in response to passenger demands for increasing luxury and sophistication while they travel.