<P> Key gave the poem to his brother - in - law Judge Joseph H. Nicholson who saw that the words fit the popular melody `` The Anacreontic Song '' , by English composer John Stafford Smith . This was the official song of the Anacreontic Society , an 18th - century gentlemen 's club of amateur musicians in London . Nicholson took the poem to a printer in Baltimore , who anonymously made the first known broadside printing on September 17 ; of these , two known copies survive . </P>
<P> Key gave the poem to his brother - in - law Judge Joseph H. Nicholson who saw that the words fit the popular melody `` The Anacreontic Song '' , by English composer John Stafford Smith . This was the official song of the Anacreontic Society , an 18th - century gentlemen 's club of amateur musicians in London . Nicholson took the poem to a printer in Baltimore , who anonymously made the first known broadside printing on September 17 ; of these , two known copies survive . </P>
where did the melody of the star spangled banner come from
where did the melody of the star spangled banner come from
`` The Anacreontic Song '' , by English composer John Stafford Smith
`` The Anacreontic Song '' , by English composer John Stafford Smith