The surprising connection of the Star-Spangled Banner to the English city

Across the Atlantic, many people in the United States will belt out the lyrics of the national anthem on Independence Day.

However, it may come as a surprise to some that the melody of The Star-Spangled Banner was written on this side of the pond and has a close connection to Gloucester.

John Stafford Smith originally wrote the melody as a drinking song and later added lyrics that were written during the war between Great Britain and the United States.

Gloucester Cathedral’s deputy director of music said it was a “very special” feeling to play the tune in the cathedral.

John Stafford Smith was baptized on 30 March 1750 in Gloucester and was the son of the then Director of Music at Gloucester Cathedral, Martin Smith.

Stafford Smith was a chorister at the cathedral in his younger years and later became a professional musician. He joined the Anacreontic Society in London, a gentlemen’s club for musicians.

Adrian Partington, director of music at Gloucester Cathedral, said evenings at the Gentlemen’s Club would be filled with “musical performances, conversation and the odd drink”.

“Stafford Smith wrote a little hymn that they can all sing after they’ve had a drink or two,” said Mr Partington.

The melody “The Anacreontic Song,” written by Stafford Smith in the 1780s, was “an instant hit.”

“Of course, a lot of people were emigrating from Britain to the US at that time and it was obviously a popular tune there in the early 19th century,” said Mr Partington.

Although “The Anacreontic Song” was composed by Stafford Smith, the words of the official U.S. national anthem come from a poem written by Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and slave owner, during an expedition to rescue a doctor from British troops during the War of 1812.

“During this expedition, he witnessed the British bombing an American fort called Fort McHenry near Baltimore,” Partington said.

“The British troops did their worst, but the American flag flew all night long, and that moved him so much that he wrote a poem.”

The first verse of the poem, “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” later became known as the lyrics of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” which officially became the national anthem of the United States in 1931.

“Someone noticed that these wonderful lyrics by Francis Scott Key fit this very popular tune by John Stafford Smith and the two became connected,” said Mr Partington.

He added that it was “ironic” that an American poem written during a war against the British was associated with a British melody.

“I call it ironic in some ways, but it just shows that music is universal, no matter what political issues there are,” Mr Partington added.

Gloucester Cathedral’s Deputy Director of Music, Jonathan Hope, now plays the organ that Stafford Smith once “knew very, very well”.

Only the casing is the same, because the instrument inside has changed “four or five times” since then.

Mr Hope said: “I am very honoured to have been associated with this cathedral. It is truly very special to play the American national anthem here.”

“We have a wonderful echo here and it is extremely satisfying to play this hymn very loudly on the organ.”