SKU: A0.1465200

This arrangement of the classic Irish tune The Fields of Athenry maintains its integrity and beauty with added moments of harmony that call to mind the songs tragic nature. It is bookended by a plaintive a cappella section based off of a fragment from the chorus, evoking a faded memory of a time and place that has been lost.

SKU: HX.262237

SKU: A0.933611

In 2009 when Sanctuary Choir of South Main Baptist Church in Houston where I served as Music Minister was scheduled to sing the National Anthem for the Houston Astros baseball game, I carefully examined the several arrangements in our library and other resources. Finding nothing which met the simple, straight-forward criteria I was searching for, we created this simple arrangement. Since its addition to the music library it has proven very useful on numerous occasions for a variety of groups.

About the National Anthem:

The lyrics for The Star-Spangled Banner were written on September 14, 1814 from a British ship in the Baltimore Harbor where attorney Francis Scott Key had waited anxiously through the night as the twenty-five hour bombing of Ft. McHenry progressed. He had been sent to negotiate the release of an American civilian and then was held on board the ship.  At the dawn’s early light when the flag could still be seen indicating the British had not taken the fort, he jotted down this poem which on March 3, 1931 finally became the National Anthem of the United States.

Interestingly, it was Robert Ripley who in November of 1929 drew a panel in his syndicated cartoon, Ripley’s Believe It or Not stating Believe It or Not, America has no national anthem. With the encouragement of John Philip Sousa, President Herbert Hoover signed into law the adoption of The Star-Spangled Banner to rectify this situation.

According to the Smithsonian, the melody, written by John Stafford Smith, was originally titled Anacreon in Heaven. Anacreon was an ancient Greek poet known for his love of wine and love. The song had become the constitutional song of a London gentlemen’s club called the Anacreontic Society. Could this explain the wide range of the melody? By utilizing this tune to the moving text, this once merry drinking song took on a bold new and powerful meaning.

Thomas Coker, August 27, 2015