Re: Star Spangled Banner, was Re: "Hatikvah"

[BarMusProd <BarMusProd...>]

Dear Robert,

In a message dated 9/15/02 12:12:21 PM, rlcm17 (at) hotmail(dot)com writes:

>(like many others, I wish we had a different one--and I *don't* mean "God
>
>Bless America) was written, in 1814, to a well-established melody.
>
Please, let's not mince words--our lovely and unsingable national anthem was 
put to a popular and well-known British drinking song[!] "The Anacreontic 
Song" or "To Anacreon, in heav'n" (Anacreon was probably the first Greek poet 
we know of to write extensively about wine, women and song--he lived from 
563-478 B.C.). Francis Scott Key only wrote the poetry, not the music. And 
Fuld tells me that recent scholarship has actually found a composer to the 
original song, a man named John Stafford.

Best wishes,
Steve

Steve Barnett
Composer/Arranger/Producer
Barnett Music Productions
BarMusProd (at) aol(dot)com 

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