BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833).Pic: Phil Yeomans/BNPS..And the band played on.....Silver plaque on the Violin from Hartleys fiancee Maria Robinson...The violin that was played by the brave bandmaster on the Titanic can be revealed for the first time along with the incredible story behind its discovery...The wooden instrument used by Wallace Hartley as the band famously played 'Nearer my god to thee' as the liner sank was thought to have been lost in 1912 disaster...It wasn't until 2006 when the son of an amateur musician who had been casually given the instrument by her violin teacher unearthed it in the attic of her home...The discovery of one of the most iconic of Titanic memetoes was almost too good to be true, prompting experts to have the relic forensically examined by some of the most revered scientific bodies in Britain...Now, after seven years of test's costing tens of thousands of pounds, the salt-stained violin has been proven to be the one played by Hartley on the night of the tragedy.