"The Anacreontic Song", also known by its incipit "To Anacreon in Heaven", was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. Composed by John Stafford Smith, the tune was later used by several writers as a setting for their patriotic lyrics. These included two songs by Francis Scott Key, most famously his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry". The combination of Key's poem and Smith's composition became known as "The Star-Spangled Banner", which was adopted as the official national anthem of the United States of America in 1931.
Anacreontic Society
The Anacreontic Society was a gentlemen's club of the kind that was popular in London in the late 18th century. In existence from approximately 1766 to 1792, the Society was dedicated to the ancient Greek poet Anacreon, who was renowned for his drinking songs and odes to love. Its members, who consisted mainly of wealthy men of high social rank, would meet on Wednesday evenings to combine musical appreciation with eating and drinking.
The Society met twelve times a year.
The Society came to an end after the Duchess of Devonshire attended one of its meetings. Because "some of the comic songs [were not] exactly calculated for the entertainment of ladies, the singers were restrained; which displeasing many of the members, they resigned one after another; and a general meeting being called, the society was dissolved". It is not clear exactly when this incident occurred, but in October 1792 it was reported that: "The Anacreontic Society meets no more; it has long been struggling with symptoms of internal decay."
Original role of the song
An early reference to the Anacreontic Song is found in the long-unpublished journals of gentleman-composer John Marsh (1752–1828). Writing of 11 December 1773, he recalls:
Another reference is found in the long-unpublished Recollections of Richard John Samuel Stevens (1757–1837). In this passage, Stevens is speaking of the year 1777: