"Gretel Dreaming: A Song Cycle, "Afternoon -- Evening/The Dream - Morning" by the American composer Owen Hartford. The text for the original version was written by lyricist Betsey Hartford. The version shown here is the setting of the work by the composer for violin solo & mandolin orchestra. The three songs within the cycle express the thoughts and feelings of a now- elderly Gretel (of the famous Grimm Brother's fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel").

The violin soloist is Rachel Panitch with the Providence Mandolin Orchestra conducted by Mark Davis. This video shows the first of the three movements, of "Gretel Dreaming: A Song Cycle" by Owen Hartford.

RACHEL PANITCH (solo violin) studied violin with Barbara Lapidus in Albany, New York, and at Vassar College with Betty-Jean Hagan. At Vassar she majored in Anthropology and Music & Culture, with projects focusing on aural learning in folk music communities and the documentation of early American fiddle music. She has performed in Eastern Europe with the Santa Monica Chamber Philharmonia and as violin soloist with the Vassar Symphony Orchestra. Panitch is currently completing a two-year teaching fellowship with Community MusicWorks in Providence, RI, an organization that sponsors free musical programming for low-income families. In Providence she performs with the Community MusicWorks Players and her bluegrass group, "The Bourbon Boys".