Margaret Bonds
1913 - 1972

Margaret Allison Bonds began her musical training with her mother, Estella Bonds, and continued composition studies with Florence Price and William Dawson. She attended Northwestern University and the Juilliard School of Music. She was well-known as a pianist and teacher in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, and collaborated with Langston Hughes on songs and musical theater. Her Credo for baritone, chorus and orchestra was performed by the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra under Zubin Mehta shortly after her death in 1972.
Works in Our Catalog:
492-00228 - Credo392-01232 - No Man has seen His Face
491-00676 - Six Songs on Poems by Edna St Vincent Millay (medium voice)
491-03177 - Six Songs on Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay
392-03111 - St. Francis' Prayer
392-01231 - Touch the Hem of His Garment
490-01185 - Two Works for Solo Piano
491-00677 - When the Dove Enters In
Works in Our Collections:
- Dry Bones (Spiritual) (1946) - found in Art Songs and Spirituals by African-American Women Composers
- He's Got the Whole World In His Hand (Spiritual) (1963) - found in Art Songs and Spirituals by African-American Women Composers
- Lord, I Just Can't Keep from Cryin' (Spiritual) (1946) - found in Art Songs and Spirituals by African-American Women Composers
- The Negro Speaks of Rivers (1942) - found in Art Songs and Spirituals by African-American Women Composers
- Three Dream Portaits (1959) - found in Art Songs and Spirituals by African-American Women Composers
- Troubled Water - found in Black Women Composers: A Century of Piano Music (1893-1990)
Works Available on Rental:
Credo
for Soprano and Baritone Soloist, SATB Chorus and Orchestra
Instrumentation: S solo, Bar solo, SATB, orch: 2 Fl/Pic, 2 ob, 2 Bsn, Cbn, 2 Hn, 2 Tpt, 3 Tbn, Tuba, Timp, Perc, Harp, Vln.I, Vln. II, Vla., Vc., Cb
Duration: 23'
for Soprano and Baritone Soloist, SATB Chorus and Orchestra
Instrumentation: S solo, Bar solo, SATB, orch: 2 Fl/Pic, 2 ob, 2 Bsn, Cbn, 2 Hn, 2 Tpt, 3 Tbn, Tuba, Timp, Perc, Harp, Vln.I, Vln. II, Vla., Vc., Cb
Duration: 23'
Montgomery Variations
for Orchestra
Instrumentation: 2 Fl., 2 Ob., Engl. Hn., 3 Cl., B Cl., 2 Bsn., Cbsn., 4 Hn., 3 Tpt, 4 Tbn, Tuba, Timp, Perc, Hp, Vln I, Vln II, Vla, Vc, Cb
Duration: 28'
for Orchestra
Instrumentation: 2 Fl., 2 Ob., Engl. Hn., 3 Cl., B Cl., 2 Bsn., Cbsn., 4 Hn., 3 Tpt, 4 Tbn, Tuba, Timp, Perc, Hp, Vln I, Vln II, Vla, Vc, Cb
Duration: 28'