Who Will Bow and Bend
A Shaker song in three strains from Mary Hazzard's songbook (about 1847): who will bow and bend like a willow, who will turn and twist and reel. Each strain is sung twice, as the book marks it. For 2 to 4 singers: the soprano sings the tune, the alto and tenor sing the words close beneath it, and the bass holds the roots on "oo".
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The first verse
Words: Shaker song (Mary Hazzard's songbook, about 1847)Tune: Shaker song (Mary Hazzard's songbook, about 1847)
Who will bow and bend like a willow, Who will turn and twist and reel.In the gale of simple freedom,From the bower of union blowing,
About Who Will Bow and Bend
Who Will Bow and Bend is a Shaker song in three strains: "Who will bow and bend like a willow, Who will turn and twist and reel". It is copied in Mary Hazzard's manuscript songbook, begun in 1847, with no title, place, giver or date; two songs away on each side are songs signed by Canterbury's Second Family and dated "Feb 22nd 1847" and "April 1847". Hazzard wrote "Who will turn and twist and real"; we sing "reel". Our tune and words are read from her page, written in the Shakers' notation of letters, in C, with every pitch as written, and the four parts are our own. This is all three strains, each sung twice as the book marks it, for 2 to 4 singers. Courtesy Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library.
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