Our National Anthem(s)

Now and then a desire to select a more singable national anthem than The Star-Spangled Banner bubbles to the surface in the media.  There are essentially two other candidates that have served over the centuries as unofficial national anthems, and Master Chorus Eastside will sing them as well as the official U.S. anthem at our All-American Independence Celebration at Pickering Barn in Issaquah on June 24.  You can come and judge for yourselves, because you will sing them along with us!

According to history, Francis Scott Key penned the text for our official National Anthem in 1814 during a naval attack on Baltimore by the British.

As Fort McHenry was shelled during the evening of September 13, Key could see the Stars and Stripes standing tall above the fort and clearly lit by the glare of battle, but towards morning on the 14th the bombardment abruptly ceased, and Key anxiously awaited the dawn to see if the flag still waved above the fort, indicating that Baltimore had not surrendered.

In the dawn’s early light he saw it still proudly waving, and quickly scratched the poem on the back of an envelope he had with him, directing it to be sung to the then well-known tune Anacreon in Heaven.  It quickly caught on and became popular, but it was a long time before it was declared America’s national anthem by Congress on March 3, 1931.

Katherine L. Bates, on the other hand, was inspired to write the words to America the Beautiful by the vista from atop Pikes Peak.

In 1893 she and some of her fellow teachers at Colorado College in Colorado Springs rode to the top of the mountain, and saw “all the wonder of America…displayed there, with the sea-like expanse.”  Over the years her poem was sung to several tunes, but by far the most popular and best known is the hymn tune composed by Samuel Ward.  In fact, in the early twentieth century there was a movement to make it our official national anthem.

And then there is the poem, My Country, ‘Tis of Thee, written by a Baptist minister, Samuel F. Smith, in 1831.

He wasn’t inspired by a battle or gorgeous American scenery; he was simply asked by his friend Lowell Mason, one of America’s great music educators, to write something for a school songbook.  So he did!  He called it America, and apparently took only thirty minutes to write four verses.  He spotted a simple but expressive melody, known to many around the world as Britain’s national anthem, God Save the Queen (or King, as the case may be), in a symphony by an Italian composer named Clementi, set his words to it, and the song was first performed at a children’s Independence Day celebration on July 4, 1831.  It served as America’s unofficial national anthem until The Star-Spangled Banner was adopted 100 years later.

Three memorable anthems, three different inspirations, three varied viewpoints from which to view, and sing about, our country.

Which one do you like?

Dr. Linda Gingrich

Artistic Director, Master Chorus Eastside