Star Spangled Banner — brass quintet

The national anthem of the United States of America, “The Star-Spangled Banner” is a setting of the poem, “Defence of Fort M’Henry” by Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) to the music of “The Anacreontic Song” by the British composer and musicologist John Stafford Smith (1750-1836).

Key wrote his poem on September 14, 1814 while witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor during the War of 1812, inspired by the large American flag (“star-spangled banner”) flying triumphantly above the fort during the American victory. Smith’s tune, already well-known, became the vehicle for what was soon to be a popular American patriotic song.

“The Star-Spangled Banner” was recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889, and by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931.