Photo: Decca/Andrew Eccles
The Star-Spangled Banner
National Anthem of the United States of America
NFL SUPER BOWL XLVIII 2014 FULL PERFORMANCE
The First Classical Singer To Perform The National Anthem At The Siper Bowl
“Singing ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ is a responsibility I took very seriously, and a moment I will never forget. I relied on a group of remarkably talented people who made my performance possible.” » A Note of Thanks
Renée Talks About Super Bowl Performance
With it becoming sport to pick on pop stars singing the United States national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner, the NFL chose Renée Fleming, trained standards and opera singer to take on the task this year, and she talked about the prospect of opening the Super Bowl, the task in front of her, and how the song is really a challenging song.
» Renée Fleming | Official Web Site
» Encore: Casta Diva (Bellini)
Renée Fleming - America’s Queen of Opera performs in the Palaces of the Czars
with internationally acclaimed Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky
‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ Lyrics
In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem, Defense of Fort McHenry. The poem was later put to the tune of (John Stafford Smith's song) The Anacreontic Song, modified somewhat, and retitled The Star-Spangled Banner. Congress proclaimed The Star-Spangled Banner the U.S. National Anthem in 1931.
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!