Today I examined illustrations for the works of an ancient poet once known for his "drinking songs." Over 2,000 years after his death, he was commemorated in the title of a new piece of music, the tune of which is now familiar to every U.S. citizen on the planet and to many other people as well. Who was the poet, and what song uses that tune?

TabbyTom

The poet was Anacreon. One of the many gentlemen’s clubs in eighteenth-century London was the Anacreontic Club, named in Anacreon’s honour, where men met to drink and make music. The club’s song was “To Anacreon In Heaven,” for which John Stafford Smith wrote a tune. The tune was subsequently used for the American patriotic song “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which of course ultimately became the country’s national anthem. See, for example: http://www.contemplator.com/america/anacreon.html Apr 28 06, 6:04 PM

lanfranco

Lovely, TT, and a yay to you -- but that MIDI version of the tune was almost more than I could handle. However, I will say that the SSB is so difficult to sing that one is probably better-off drunk when attempting it. I was looking at Girodet's illustrations to his own translations of Anacreon this afternoon. He really should have stuck to painting. Apr 28 06, 6:15 PM

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