John Stafford Smith (30 March 1750 – 21 September 1836) was a British composer, church organist, and early musicologist. He was one of the first serious collectors of manuscripts of works by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Stafford Smith is best known for writing the music for "The Anacreontic Song", which became the tune for the American patriotic song The Star-Spangled Banner following the War of 1812, and in 1931 was adopted as the national anthem of the United States of America.
Read more about John Stafford Smith: Life, American National Anthem, Luxembourg National Anthem
Famous quotes containing the words john, stafford and/or smith:
“Whither goest thou?”
—Bible: New Testament Peter, in John, 13:36.
The words, which are repeated in John 16:5, are best known in the Latin form in which they appear in the Vulgate: Quo vadis? Jesus replies, “Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.”
“a doe, a recent killing;
she had stiffened already, almost cold.
I dragged her off she was large in the belly.”
—William Stafford (1914–1941)
“Heat, ma’am! It was so dreadful here that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones.”
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845)