![]() Why did music teachers protest? The tune is indeed a strange choice for a national anthem.Prohibitionists, nationalists, pacifists and even music teachers opposed the choice, suggesting alternatives including “Hail Columbia” and “America, the Beautiful.” It wasn’t until 1931 that Key’s song became the official anthem of the U.S.It was performed at the first World Series in 1903 in Boston. The anthem was first played at a professional sporting event in 1862 in Brooklyn, N.Y., where a band had been hired to celebrate the opening of a new baseball stadium.Since then, Key’s lyric has been translated into more than a dozen languages. During the Civil War, Union supporters used a German translation of the song to recruit German-speakers to volunteer for the militia.Before it was named “The Star-Spangled Banner,” it was titled “The Defence of Fort McHenry.” The name we know today appears in the first sheet music imprint published in October/November 1814 and helped broaden the appeal of the song to the entire nation.We are currently in the midst of its bicentennial year. “The Star-Spangled Banner,” as Francis Scott Key’s song is now known, was written in mid-September 1814 to celebrate the defeat of the British navy at the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812.
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