Margaret Bonds: Credo; Simon Bore the Cross

Featuring

Malcolm J. Merriweather
Janinah Burnett
Dashon Burton
The Dessoff Orchestra
The Dessoff Choirs
Margaret Allison Bonds

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Composition History

Margaret Bonds collaborated with her longtime friend Langston Hughes, a prominent Black writer, on the work 'Simon Bore the Cross'.

Composer Biography

Margaret Bonds's career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, a period significantly shaped by the Harlem Renaissance, Chicago Renaissance, and the civil rights movement.

Critical Reception

Excerpts of an orchestrated version of Margaret Bonds's 'Credo' were performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta conducting one month after her death in 1972, receiving praise from the Los Angeles Times.

Cultural Impact

In 'Simon Bore the Cross', Margaret Bonds and Langston Hughes centered Simon of Cyrene, a North African figure, in the passion narrative to allow African American audiences to see themselves in the Crucifixion story.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Over 90% of Margaret Bonds's works contain text, reflecting the importance of words and ideas to her, often setting words by Black writers and incorporating Black musical idioms.

Performer Biography

Malcolm J. Merriweather, the conductor and baritone on this album, is also the Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus and Music Director of New York's Dessoff Choirs.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Margaret Bonds believed her work 'Credo' carried a universal message of racial equality, inspired by Pan-African philosophy, and expressed her mission to tell Black people 'how great they are'.