New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-13
AMERICAS SONG

unSmiably amiable patriotic spirit
which also claimed an American origin
for "The Star-Spangled Banner, q
French origin, also q German, for ICED
Save the King; \ German for "The
Marseillaise," and a Croatian for "Gotk
erhalte Franz den Kaisef.F Warm
blooded SoushEons in our country are
with difficulty persuaded that FDixte"
was written hy an OhioAn ana popular
in New York before il was heard sonth
Of Mason and DixoB'e line, 80 The I'rib-
une took q deal Of pains to prove no
longer ago than last April. Even so
Oscar George Theodore Sonneek, CHIEF
of the Division of Music In our Library
of Congress, has found Il necessary to
set forth the whole history Of She con-
troversy about the authorship Of ITO
AnacreOn in Heaven and "The Star
Spangled Banner" In two reports issued
from the Government Printing Once,
one in 1909 and the other, revision
and enlargement Of the first, few
weeks ago. To persons familiar with
the controversy il looks rs " Mr.. Son,
neck was killing again lot OF dead
men; but he has made an admirable
job Of it, and Mr.. T. Grattan Flood and
others would better not have stirred
him up. Moreover, he has added some
new evidence as q result Of ingenious
Investigations, and put the claims 81
Tomlinson and Smith on q tirrner loot
ing than they ever have had before.
NO DISPUTE ON ONE POINT.
In the case of "The Star-Spangled
Banner" the points in controversy. are
less material than in that OF the Eng
lish song, for no person has dared to
deny that Francis Scott Key wrote the
words and that from the beginning they
were sung to the melody still assoc
ciated with them. Nor is there any
doubt as to the occasion which inspired
them or the manner in which they were
written down and given to the pubic.
That story has come down straight
from the author himself and been am
ply confirmed, In connection with the
music there has been some wild and
misguided talk based on the fact that
Mr.. Key was, like Charles Lamb, con
stitutionally incapable Of tune; our
he himself announced that his poem
was to be sung to the tune OF To
Anacreon in Heaven" and it is plain
from his adherence to the verse form
and metre of the English drinking song
that even if he was ignorant OF the
tune he was familiar, with poets IA
miliarity, with the words, or at any rate
with a paraphrase Of it. No one could
have hit by chance second time upon
the structure of ITO Anacreon IN
Heaven" and a patriotic American
paraphrase of it was in everybody
mouth one hundred years ago. 1t was
called adams and Liberty" and Where
il came from we shall see.
mt afNV mn
lied by a company Of jovisl gentlemen
in London for the purposes. OF what inc
Germans call Gemdthlickeit, sort CT
refined and artistic conviviality, blend
ing the worship Of Apollo and Baeehus'
or, as the club song itself had IT, en-
tWining the myrtle of Venus and BAG
chus's vine. The meetings began with
q concert of .high-class music in the
grand meeting room. There followed
supper in the supper-room, during
which the grand room was prepared Tor /
the conviyial meeting which followed,
at which the members at will exercised
their talents and skill in glee-singing,
mimicking artists, making puppet
shows and the like sort OF entertain
ments. Always the proceedings oegan
with q performance Of ITO Anaereon
in Heaven" in which the assembled
company Joined the solo voice IN tne
chorus. The first stanza ran as 1oi-
lows;
To Anacreon in Heav'n. where he sat in full
few Sons of harmony sent petition,
That he their inspirer and patron would De;
When this answer arrivd from the Jolly
old Grecian;
No longer be mute;
III lend We my name and inspire ye 10 boot
And beside Ill instruct ye' Ike me- 20 en-
The m write Of Venus with Bacchuss vine.
1T WAS WRITTEN BEFORE 177S.
The society was founded about 1865
and that the song was written before
177s is indicated by the fact that in a
version printed in that year the meet.
ing place is alluded to as "Rowley's,
situate on "the hill of Old Lud" (Lud-
gate HID. After 177S the society met
at the Crown and Anchor in the Strand,
and the lines were changed so as to be
equally applicable to any habitat occu-
MED by the merrymakers. The words
of the song were published number OF
times before an edition appeared with
the familiar melody attached to them,
but even after the song began to ap-
pear in sheet-music form, though the
author of the words was occasionally
mentioned there was no name attached
to the music until Smith published a
book of canzonets and glees which was
copyrighted in 1899 in which the melody
served as a cantus firmus, or plain
chant, for a piece of concerted song.
On the title page of the book Smith
described himself as author of several
glees which were popular at the time
and also "the Anacreontic song" "har-
monized by the author" The long time
which elapsed before Smith claimed
copyright is the chief point relied on
by the questioners to cast doubt on
his authorship of the melody; but in
the absence of direct evidence to the
contrary there is no sufficient ground
for denying that Smith composed the
tune.
At the end of the eighteenth century