Margaret Bonds: Credo, Simon Bore the Cross

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Beautifully performed here, these two late choral works encapsulate both the warmth of Bonds’ musical language and her passionate advocacy for racial justice. — BBC Music Magazine, April 2023, 5 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 10th Feb 2023
Catalogue No: AV2589
Label: Avie
Length: 62 minutes

Presto Editor's Choice

February 2023
Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2023

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Bonds: Credo

Work length23:35

$7.00

$9.80

$12.25

Janinah Burnett (soprano), Dashon Burton (baritone)
The Dessoff Choirs
Malcolm J. Merriweather

I. I Believe in God

Track length2:33

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

II. Especially do I Believe in the Negro Race

Track length3:25

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

III. I Believe in Pride of Race

Track length3:05

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

IV. I Believe in the Devil

Track length1:33

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

V. I Believe in the Prince of Peace

Track length6:12

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

VI. I Believe in Liberty

Track length4:26

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

VII. I Believe in Patience

Track length2:21

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Bonds: Simon Bore the Cross

Work length39:14

$8.50

$11.90

$14.85

Janinah Burnett (soprano), Dashon Burton (baritone)
The Dessoff Choirs
Malcolm J. Merriweather

I. Prelude

Track length4:57

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

II. I Find No Fault

Track length1:56

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

III. The Trial

Track length5:36

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

IV. Who Is That Man?

Track length4:04

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

V. Don’t You Know, Mary?

Track length4:08

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

VI. Walkin' to Calvary

Track length8:39

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

VII. The Crucifixion

Track length4:20

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

VIII. Postlude Resurrection

Track length5:34

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

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The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra, conductor Malcolm J. Merriweather and soloists soprano Janinah Burnett and bass-baritone Dashon Burton, give world-premiere recordings of two seminal choral works by African American composer Margaret Bonds: Simon Bore the Cross and Credo.

New York City-based The Dessoff Choirs, instrumental in re-establishing the music of 20th-century African American composer Margaret Bonds with the world-premiere recording of her Christmas oratorio The Ballad of the Brown King, present two more Bonds premieres: new orchestrations of her cantata Simon Bore the Cross created with long-time collaborator and friend Langston Hughes, and the large-scale Credo set to prose by W. E. B. Du Bois.

Akin to The Ballad of the Brown King, which centred around the dark-skinned king Balthazar who journeyed to Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus Christ, Bonds’ and Hughes’ North African Simon carried Jesus’s cross on the way to Calvary, giving African American audiences an opportunity to see themselves within the biblical canon.

Credo bears Bonds’ evocative vocal writing style infused with elements from various black musical genres. The first complete performance of the work was given in 1973, to rave reviews: “Credo verified her talent, her sensitivity, her proficiency as orchestrator and her concern for the Negro spiritual” (Los Angeles Times).

Written during the last decade of Bonds’ life, neither work was performed in its entirety during the composer’s lifetime. With this release – coinciding with Black History Month – conductor Malcolm J. Merriweather, The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra and soloists soprano Janinah Burnett and bass-baritone Dashon Burton, bring Margaret Bonds’ beautiful and spiritual music back to life, conveying a powerful message that remains poignant and relevant for music lovers today.

Reviews

April 2023

Beautifully performed here, these two late choral works encapsulate both the warmth of Bonds’ musical language and her passionate advocacy for racial justice.

Sep/Oct 2023

The Avie recording presents excellent renditions of both works. The Dessoff Choirs sing with a gorgeous, blended sound, and acute dramatic involvement. Soloists Janinah Burnett (her solo in Credo ascends above a high C) and Dashon Burton are similarly compelling. Conductor Merriweather and the orchestra provide incisive and expressive support.

April 2023

The simplicity of style and utterance of Bonds’s sectional treatment of the poem should not disguise the considerable skill of her setting...there is a luminosity in the music throughout that is quite compelling.

February 2023

These two large-scale works from the American composer (1913-72) should win many new friends among choral societies looking to diversify their repertoire as well as being immensely rewarding listening on their own terms: the story of Simon of Cyrene is evocatively told, and Bonds's response to the text of the Credo is arresting and imaginative. Both scores make moving use of spirituals as well as harking back to well-known oratorios - the blazing C major chords towards the end of Simon, for instance, echoing the opening of Haydn's Creation.

Margaret Bonds: Credo, Simon Bore the Cross

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