Composer: Margaret Allison Bonds
Performer: Janinah Burnett, Dashon Burton, The Dessoff Choirs
Conductor: Malcolm J. Merriweather
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Avie
Catalogue: AV2589
Release: 2023
Size: 1.13 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Credo
01. I. I Believe in God
02. II. Especially do I Believe in the Negro Race
03. III. I Believe in Pride of Race
04. IV. I Believe in the Devil
05. V. I Believe in the Prince of Peace
06. VI. I Believe in Liberty
07. VII. I Believe in Patience
Simon Bore the Cross
08. I. Prelude
09. II. I Find No Fault
10. III. The Trial
11. IV. Who Is That Man?
12. V. Don’t You Know, Mary?
13. VI. Walkin’ to Calvary
14. VII. The Crucifixion
15. VIII. Postlude Resurrection
The arrangements of spirituals by Margaret Bonds are familiar, but she wrote a good number of larger works that have been neglected by comparison with those of her teacher, Florence B. Price. Partly this is because many remained unpublished; the Credo heard here was published only in 2022, and a number of performances followed. One of these came from New York’s Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra under the direction of Malcolm J. Merriweather. The Credo, with a text by W.E.B. DuBois, is paired with an oratorio-like work, Simon Bore the Cross; the text of the latter is by Langston Hughes, a close friend of Bonds. Both pieces artfully weave African American materials with established forms of sacred music; the Credo is not a setting of the Credo of the Catholic mass (although it draws on that) but a set of more general statements of belief, several of them specifically African American. The spirituals influence Bonds’ language at many points — sample the unique treatment of “He Never Said a Mumblin’ Word” from the Crucifixion movement of Simon Bore the Cross — but neither work is simply a chain of spirituals. The music is beautifully performed by the choristers of the Dessoff Choirs, largely not African American but well-drilled in the flavors of Black music by Merriweather, and the sound — recorded at Manhattan’s Church of the Heavenly Rest — is ideal. Both of these works would be ideal for school and collegiate choirs, and Merriweather and the Dessoff Choirs deserve special credit for inaugurating their revival with such strong performances.
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.