New Book: O Say Can You Hear?

O Say Can You Hear?: A Cultural Biography of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Mark Clague is now available.

A Cultural Biography of “The Star-Spangled Banner”by Mark Clague I can hardly believe the book is done! These 249 pages have been a labor of love for more than a decade. I fully expected when I began starspangledmusic.org that the book would be the first project out of the gate and others would follow. Instead,…

"Lift Every Voice and Sing"—Free Sheet Music Download

The Johnson Brothers Originally published in our 2014 Star Spangled Songbook, we are pleased to make the sheet music for the African American Anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” with by the brothers James Weldon Johnson (lyrics) and J. Rosamond Johnson (music) available. Despite the broad popularity of this song, which was featured recently by…

Band Music of Alton Augustus Adams—Free Downloads

Alton Augustus Adams, Sr. (1889–1987) was a pioneering performer, composer, educator, and author who advanced the band culture of the Virgin Islands. A flutist and piccolo player, he founded the Adams Juvenile Band in 1910, teaching each of its musicians and drilling the ensemble to such a professional standard that the unit was inducted as…

Star Spangled Songbook Published!

Our book of sheet music and anthem history—the Star Spangled Songbook—has been published to mark the song’s 201st anniversary!The Star Spangled Songbook tells a largely forgotten story of the United States of America—of the symbiosis of both anthem and nation—in more than seventy songs with full text and performable sheet music. These all-new scholarly editions…

Banner Moment #9: August 18, 1969—Hendrix Plays the Anthem at Woodstock

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A Celebration of Two Centuries of a Song — 4PM Live Stream

Two hundred years ago today, the “dawn’s early light” broke over Fort McHenry and illuminated a flag symbolizing resilience and courage. Two hundred years later, the song written by Francis Scott Key in praise of the fort’s defenders still waves over the nation, celebrating the commitment of American citizens to the day-to-day requirements of democracy.Today…

Banner Moment #7—March 3, 1931—Key's Song Made Official U.S. Anthem by Congress

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Banner Moment #6: Jan. 8, 1917—Key's Song Named "National Anthem" of U.S. Military

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Banner Moments #5: Holmes Adds Civil War Verse to Anthem

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Proudly We Hail! MMB #Anthem200 Halftime Show

RED, WHITE & “GO BLUE!” (Click Here to View Video of the Show) U-M TO HOST ONE OF NATION’S BIGGEST CELEBRATIONS FOR NATIONAL ANTHEM’S 200th BIRTHDAY Michigan Marching Band to perform half-time extravaganza in celebration of “The Star Spangled Banner” bicentennial September 13, 2014, (Ann Arbor, MI) – The University of Michigan will be home…