The Twa Sisters - Versions and Settings

Versions and Settings

• "Binnorie" in Joseph Jacobs' English Fairy Tales (1890).
• Cyril Rootham's three-act opera The two sisters (1918-21, libretto by Marjory Fausset) is based on "The twa sisters O'Binnorie"; it opens with an unaccompanied rendition of six verses of the ballad instead of an overture.
• Percy Grainger's Danish Folksongs Suite (1926-41) incorporates melodic material the composer had noted down in 1923 from a traditional Jutish version sung by "folksongstress" Ane Nielsen Post.
• Andrew Bird recorded a setting titled "Two Sisters" as the fifth track of his album Music of Hair.
• Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick recorded a version titled "The Bows of London".
• The Irish group Clannad has a version titled "Two Sisters" on their album Dúlamán.
• Bob Dylan performed "Two Sisters" in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and a recording of an impromptu version in the apartment of his friend Karen Wallace from May 1960 appears on The Genuine Bootleg Series, Take 2. He also based "Percy's Song" on the variant "The Wind and the Rain".
• Jerry Garcia and David Grisman recorded "Dreadful Wind and Rain" on the Shady Grove album.
• Folk metal band In Extremo recorded an Old Norwegian version of the song ("Two søstra") for the last track of their debut album Weckt Die Toten!.
• Ewan MacColl recorded a version in Scottish called "Minorie" which can be found on several of his recordings.
• Folk singer Peggy Seeger recorded a version entitled "O The Wind and Rain" on her album Bring Me Home.
• Pentangle released their album Cruel Sister in 1970, the title track being a rendition of this ballad.
• Rachel Unthank and the Winterset recorded "Cruel Sister" on their album Cruel Sister.
• Tom Waits includes his own version of "Two Sisters" on the Bastards disc of his Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards trilogy.
• Julia Wolfe composed an instrumental rendition of the ballad in 2004.
• Custer Larue recorded the song on her album The Daemon Lover.
• Loreena McKennitt covered a version of the tale "The Bonny Swans" on her album The Mask And The Mirror.
• Bellowhead recorded a version called "Wind & Rain" for their album Broadside.
• The Early Folk Band recorded a version on their album "Northlands" in 2012 ("The two sisters/Binnorie/Två systrar")
• Nico Muhly composed and recorded a version called "Two Sisters".