Meredith College Professor of Music Ellen Williams has completed a new CD of Gustav Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde.”

 

The project features Arnold Schoenberg’s arrangement of Mahler’s work. The six songs were originally scored for a large orchestra, while Schoenberg’s version is for 14 instruments. Williams’ collaborator was tenor Tim Sparks.

 

The project was completed “ten years since we sang it for the first time during Meredith College’s 2001 Year of Music,” Williams said. “We fell in love with the piece and never gave up on the idea of recording it, because this version is not as available as the original orchestra version.”

 

The performance was recorded in 2007 with the Duraleigh Chamber Players at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Durham, N.C. Completing the project took time because each stage required collaboration with a variety of others.

 

“This is our form of publication. Everything that went into the project, the liner notes, artwork, the whole creative process, took time and so many different people,” Williams said. “This was a chance to champion something that deserves to be heard.”

 

Williams has been a member of Meredith’s faculty since 1992. In addition to her role at Meredith, Williams is a performing artist and a member of the North Carolina Opera Board of Directors. North Carolina Opera was formed in 2010 from the merger of Capital Opera Raleigh and The Opera Company of North Carolina.

 

The CD, presented by Centaur Records, is available at Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh, and the project can also be purchased on iTunes or on www.centaurrecords.com.

 

In this Issue:

Top Academic Scholarship Recipients Announced
Alumna Samantha Cibelli Earns Fulbright Grant
Research Partnership Grants Fund Summer Projects for Student-Faculty Teams
Faculty/Staff Facilitators Appreciate LeaderShape Experience
Readership Survey Results
Professor of Music Ellen Williams Completes Mahler CD
Faculty/Staff Accomplishments
Upcoming Events
News Briefs

 

Have you presented research or attended a professional meeting recently? Has your department earned an award? Share news of these accomplishments and more with the Meredith community. Faculty and staff are invited to email items to Melyssa Allen, “Campus Connections” editor, at allenme@meredith.edu.