Maiden’s Prayer (Bob Wills, 1935 version)

Maiden’s Prayer is a Classical melody that was adapted and for fiddle by Bob Wills. The original version is a waltz (and sounds a bit like Chopin in style) but the way Wills played it is quite a bit different. The melody is altered and fit into 4/4 time with a swing feel. To me, this Swing fiddle version is almost like a separate composition that was inspired by the first. Wills may not have done the adaptation himself, however. In fact, the story goes that he learned this melody from a Latino fiddler in New Mexico, along with another tune that Wills also popularized called Spanish Two-Step. In any case, Wills’ band recorded Maiden’s Prayer featuring fiddle in 1935 and then later with a big band, and once more again in the 1960’s. I think this was a favorite melody of Mr. Wills. I remember reading in The Devil’s Box that he described how he played it every morning at dawn on his ranch.

Finally, here is an amazing fact about the original Classical melody. It is played by garbage trucks in Taiwan, to let people know to bring their trash out to the street. (There was an episode of the 99 Percent Invisible podcast about this!) Find the video at the very bottom to see this in action. As a composer myself, I have to say that I would be very pleased if 250 years from now the compost gathering spaceships roaming the eco-domes played one of my melodies!

Here is another version, with Classical violinist Daniel Kobialka joining David Grisman and friends in a nice arrangement of the piece.