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Credo is set to W. E. B. Du Bois’ prose poem of the same name. Simon Bore the Cross was a collaboration between Bonds and her close friend and collaborator, Langston Hughes. The recording, the ensemble’s second for AVIE Records, unites The Dessoff Choirs with full orchestra and features soloists soprano Janinah Burnett and bass-baritone Dashon Burton.
The Dessoff Choirs’ performance of Credo is from an authoritative edition by Temple University music professor Rollo Dilworth, while the edition and orchestration of Simon Bore the Cross is by Malcolm J. Merriweather. The album’s liner notes are provided by leading Bonds authority Ashley Jackson.
Bonds’ Credo sets Du Bois’ seven-part prose poem of 1904 and bears the composer’s evocative vocal writing style – by turns lyrical and powerful – infused with elements from various black musical genres. The first complete performance of the work was given the year after Bonds’ death, to favorable reviews: “Credo verified her talent, her sensitivity, her proficiency as orchestrator and her concern for the Negro spiritual” (Los Angeles Times).
Simon Bore the Cross centers on Simon of Cyrene from North Africa, who carried Jesus’ cross on the way to Calvary. By establishing Simon as a key character in the passion narrative, Bonds and Hughes gave African American audiences the opportunity to see themselves within the biblical canon. Hughes commenced work on the text in 1962. Bonds began setting it to music the following year and completed a piano-vocal score in 1965. Despite plans for both the publication and premiere of the work, neither was achieved during the composer’s lifetime.
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Malcolm is pleased to offer its recording on AVIE Records, MARGARET BONDS: The Ballad of the Brown King & Selected Songs. 20th-century African American composer Margaret Bonds is receiving long overdue recognition with the world-premiere recording of her crowning achievement, The Ballad of the Brown King.
Composed in 1954 and dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr., Bonds’ work with libretto by Langston Hughes, focuses on the dark-skinned Balthazar of the Three Kings, who traveled to Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus Christ. Bonds’ musical language in the nine-movement cantata combines a neo-Romantic style with the simplicity of negro spirituals.
The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra are joined by soprano Laquita Mitchell, mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford, and tenor Noah Stewart, under the baton of Malcolm J. Merriweather. Bonds authority Dr. Ashley Jackson contributes the inspired liner note. This unique seasonal album also includes a selection of specially arranged songs, including a setting of Hughes’ seminal poem “I, Too” performed by baritone Merriweather and Jackson on solo harp.
