While “The Star Spangled Banner” is not technically a hymn of praise to God, since it is found in many hymnals in America and sung or played on so many occasions (baseball games being among them!), it is being including here in this collection of studies. It is the national anthem of the United States of America and will be heard across the nation on this July 4th, 2026, as the country celebrates its 250th anniversary, our semiquincentennial (try saying that quickly five times!).
The lyrics come from the “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large U. S. flag with its 15 stars and 15 stripes, that star-spangled banner, flying triumphantly above the fort after the battle.
His poem was set to the music of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a gentlemen’s club in London. Smith’s song, “The Anacreontic Song,” with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. This setting, renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner,” soon became a popular patriotic song. With a range of 19 semitones, it is known for being very difficult to sing, in part because the melody stretches so far into higher notes that other voices than a soprano find it challenging to reach.