For those in the land of the free

It’s everyone’s favorite holiday weekend, and preparations are

underway for our nation’s birthday celebration tomorrow. The Fourth

of July conjures up so many sights and sounds ... hot dogs on the

grill, fireworks, ants at the picnic, and concerts in the park.

Chief among all the music played will be “The Star-Spangled

Banner,” our national anthem. As national anthems go, it may be more

difficult to sing than other nations’ anthems that are hymn-like, but

it is incredibly stirring and melodious.

The tune, in fact, dates back to the middle of the 18th century,

well before Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics we use today. The

melody was written by English composer John Stafford Smith for the

meetings of London’s Anacreontic Society. Anacreon was a classical

Greek poet who wrote odes to love and to wine, which may be why the

tune sounds more like a drinking song than a lugubrious hymn.

The song, though, became very popular and was a well-known tune in

Britain and the United States.

This brings us to the War of 1812, pitting the newly formed United

States against its former colonizer who is still chafed at losing the

colony across the pond. They chafed so much that they burned down

Washington in August 1814.

At that time, they captured an elderly physician, Dr. William

Beanes. A Washington lawyer (and amateur poet) was posted to

Baltimore at the request of President Madison to secure the doctor’s

release from the British. That lawyer was Francis Scott Key.

Negotiating with the British over the dinner table, Key freed

Beanes, but they were confined to the British warship Surprise under

a flag of truce. They had seen and heard too much of the British

plans to attack Fort McHenry in Baltimore.

It was a stormy night and Key and Beanes were eight miles

downstream of the conflagration. The British fired 1,500 bombs at

Fort McHenry. These included Congreve rockets that left red tails of

flame (“the rockets’ red glare”) and bombs with burning fuses that

frequently blew up before landing at the target (“the bombs bursting

in air”).

After 25 hours of intense battle, stillness fell over Baltimore

Harbor. The temporary prisoners on the Surprise could tell nothing of

what had happened in the rain-soaked night. The smoke of the battle

was so thick that even by 8 a.m., no one could see if the enormous

flag (for which the fort was famous) still waved.

Gradually, a stripe and then a star emerged from the gunpowder

haze, and it was clear the retreating British ships were leaving in

defeat and not victory.

Key wrote a poem, “The Defense of Fort M’Henry,” on the back of an

old letter and had it printed up as handbills. The poem was soon

picked up by the Baltimore papers, which noted that it fit the

well-known Anacreontic tune.

It remained one of the most popular patriotic songs of the

century, but it wasn’t until 1916 that President Wilson ordered it

performed at all military events.

In 1918, baseball officials were going to cancel the World Series

because of the war in Europe until they heard that the boys in the

trenches were looking forward to the results. At the seventh inning

stretch of the first game, the band struck up “The Star-Spangled

Banner” as a patriotic gesture, and it has been with baseball ever

since.

It wasn’t until 1931, however, that the song was made our official

national anthem by an act of Congress signed by President Herbert

Hoover.

If this little historical background has you fired up to hear this

and other patriotic songs, the library can help you out. The library

isn’t just books and films. We also have a large collection of music

CDs.

On “God Bless America,” you can hear the anthem sung by the Mormon

Tabernacle Choir, along with a quirky assortment of artists that

includes Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey, Frank Sinatra, Pete Seeger

and Mahalia Jackson.

“The Spirits of Freedom,” featuring the Washington Men’s Camerata

includes our national anthem plus “Hail to the Chief,” “You’re a

Grand Old Flag,” and “America the Beautiful,” among others.

“America Sings” presents the Eric Rogers Chorale and Orchestra in

such standards and patriotic oldies as “Battle Hymn of the Republic,”

“Over There,” and “Dixie.”

Keep in mind that this is just a small sample of patriotic music

and other classical, rock, jazz, folk and popular music is available

to check out.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Sara Barnicle. All titles may be

reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog at

https://www.newportbeachlibrary .org. For more information on the

Central Library or any of the branches, please contact the Newport

Beach Public Library at (949) 717-3800, option 2.