be sung by a solo singer, with the entire Society joining in the refrain. Although it is often described as a "drinking song", Lichtenwanger states that "To Anacreon in Heaven" "was not a barroom ballad, a drinking ditty to be chorused with glasses swung in rhythm", but "convivial, ... in a special and stately way". Composition and authorship Words Early publications of the song ascribe its lyrics to the Society's president, Ralph Tomlinson. Tomlinson was baptized in Plemstall, Cheshire, in 1744; by 1766 he was a lawyer working in London. Tomlinson likely became president of the Society following the death of the previous president, George Bellas, in January 1776. He died in March 1778 at the age of thirty-three. Music While many early publications of the Song attribute the words to Tomlinson, none name the creator of the music. The identity of the composer was a subject of controversy until the discovery, in the mid-twentieth century, of a passage in a then-unpublished manuscript of Recollections written by Richard John Samuel Stevens (1757–1837), a member of the Anacreontic Society. Writing of the year 1777, Stevens recalled: In this passage, Stevens identified the composer as John Stafford Smith (1750–1836). Smith, the son of the organist of Gloucester Cathedral, was sent at a young age to sing in the Chapel Royal, and thereafter soon established himself in the capital. Like Stevens himself, Smith was a young professional musician active primarily in the chapels and churches of London. Smith was a published composer by 1772, subsequently winning two composition prizes from the London Catch Club in 1773. Both Smith and Stevens were likely among the "honorary members" of the Anacreontic Society who played in its concerts without having to pay the subscription fee; Smith is probably the "leader" identified by Marsh in his recollection of 1773 excerpted above. Smith outlived both Ralph Tomlinson and the Anacreontic Society by several decades before dying in 1836. During his lifetime, the melody of the Song was set to other texts (most notably the "Defence of Fort McHenry" as discussed below) and became extremely popular. Despite this, Smith does not seem to have been eager to publicize the fact that he had composed the Song. The best evidence we have for a claim of authorship occurs in his Fifth Book of Canzonets (1799), which included an arrangement of the Anacreontic Song with the ambiguous notation "harmonized by the