Evan Williams - Prize Song

Evan Williams (1867-1918) was a tenor who enjoyed a splendid career without ever having set foot on the opera stage. In a career that spanned a quarter century, this popular tenor made his mark on the music world through concerts, recitals, oratorio and recordings. He was born Harry Evan Williams in Mineral Ridge, Ohio, the son of Welsh immigrants. When he was thirteen, his mother passed away and the young man went to live with relatives in the small Welsh community of Thomastown. To earn his keep, Williams began working in the coal mines there but also found time to sing in the local church choir. It was there that his budding tenor voice was discovered. Taking advantage of his heritage, Williams participated in Welsh festivals and soloed in Welsh choirs during these formative years and by the early 1890s was a well established concert singer. For much of the decade, he divided his time between England and the U.S. and was in great demand not only as a recitalist but as a church soloist as well. In 1907, he moved back to the U.S. and signed a long term contract with Victor Records the same year. Williams continued to be quite popular as a soloist with numerous civic chorales, music societies, summer festivals and regional orchestras throughout the U.S. In the spring of 1918, at the peak of his career, the 50 year old singer was stricken with a fever. After being examined by the family doctor, it was discovered that Williams had developed a severe abscess. Without proper antibiotics, nothing much could be done to stop the infection from spreading. Williams was moved to Akron’s City Hospital, where he bravely battled the infection and raging fever for a week. Sadly, blood poisoning set in and the singer passed away on May 24th. Evan Williams is a greatly underrated tenor whose artistry is preserved on nearly 200 phonograph records. Most of these were of Irish songs, popular ballads, art songs and a few Welsh melodies. One of Williams' rare excursions into operatic repertoire is this English language version of Walther's Prize Song from Wagner's Die Meistersinger. This recording was made for Victor on July 23, 1908.