Classical Music Playlist, March 3, 2026
Margaret Bonds (1913-1972)
Every day in March for Women’s History Month CapRadio is celebrating Women In Music who brought us to where we are today and the innovators who keep moving music forward. Today's classical spotlight is on Margaret Bonds.
As a composer, her experience was wide-ranging, including jazz arrangements, songs for children, film music, popular songs, choral music, and musicals, as well as classical compositions. But she became most well-known for her arrangements of traditional spirituals.
Margaret Bonds was born in 1913 into a home that was a meeting place for African American artists and intellectuals hosted by her mother, Estella, a gifted musician who gave Margaret her first music lessons.
One of the later visitors to their home was Florence Price when she moved to Chicago in 1927 and became a dear friend to both Margaret and Estella and taught piano to Margaret during her high school years.
Bonds was the first Black soloist to appear with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was the featured soloist in the Woman’s Symphony Orchestra of Chicago’s performance of Price’s single-movement Piano Concerto in D Minor (1934).
She met poet Langston Hughes in 1936 and became a lifelong friend and collaborator, especially during the 1950s when she set many of his poems to music.
Bonds died in Los Angeles in 1972 at the age of 59.
Composed after her 1963 trip to Montgomery Alabama and as a tribute to Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, her “Montgomery Variations” are musical reflections on Montgomery as a focal point of the Civil Rights Movement. It's today's Midday Masterpiece.
The movements:
I. The Decision: Evokes the meeting where the bus boycott was decided upon.
II. Prayer Meeting: Represents the spiritual foundation of the movement, building from quiet to intense.
III. March: Symbolizes the walking to work during the boycott, with a sense of walking with the "Spirit of the Nazarene.”
IV. Dawn in Dixie: Depicts the South, specifically referencing camellias, magnolias, and the changes taking place.
V. One Sunday in the South: A poignant reflection on the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.
VI. Lament: A musical expression of grief and mourning.
VII. Benediction: A final, peaceful reflection, offering love to all people.
The Montgomery Variations is considered a major work in Bonds' career, although she never heard it performed in her lifetime.
6:00 a.m.
Giovanni Punto
Horn Concerto No. 5 in F major
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Barry Tuckwell, horn
6:17 a.m.
Lars-Erik Larsson
The Winter's Tale Opus 18
CBC Vancouver Orchestra; Mario Bernardi, conductor
6:29 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor BWV 1067
Academy of Ancient Music; Christopher Hogwood, conductor Lisa Beznosiuk, flute
6:53 a.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Song without Words for cello and piano Opus 109
Haruma Sato, cello; Wataru Hisasue, piano
6:59 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 31 "Paris" in D major K 297
English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
7:18 a.m.
Franz Liszt
Piano Concerto No. 1 in Eb major
Budapest Festival Orchestra; Ivan Fischer, conductor Zoltan Kocsis, piano
7:37 a.m.
Margaret Bonds
Fields of Wonder: 6. New Moon
Cantus
7:40 a.m.
Edvard Grieg
Norwegian Dances Opus 35
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
7:58 a.m.
Giuseppe Verdi
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO Overture
Philharmonic of La Scala; Riccardo Muti, conductor
8:07 a.m.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major Opus 102
Los Angeles Philharmonic; Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor Yefim Bronfman, piano
8:27 a.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 8 "Christmas Concerto" in G minor Opus 6
Les Violons du Roy; Bernard Labadie, conductor
8:42 a.m.
Hugo Alfven
Mountain King Suite
Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Niklas Willen, conductor
9:00 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Opus 132
Cypress String Quartet
9:44 a.m.
Madeleine Dring
Colour Suite: IV. Blue Air
Sarah Cahill, piano
9:48 a.m.
Johann Christian Bach
Symphony No. 5 in F major Opus 3
Camerata Budapest; Hanspeter Gmur, conductor
10:00 a.m.
George Friederich Handel
Concerto Grosso No. 6 in G minor Opus 6/6 HWV 324
Boston Baroque; Martin Pearlman, conductor
10:16 a.m.
William Grant Still
Symphony No. 4 "Autochthonous"
Philadelphia Orchestra; Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor
10:45 a.m.
Marie Awadis
Etude No. 10: Void
Marie Awadis, piano
10:48 a.m.
Xuefei Yang
Xinjiang Fantasy
Xuefei Yang, guitar
10:55 a.m.
Giuseppe Verdi
ATTILA Preludio
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Edward Downes, conductor
11:00 a.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Tafelmusik II: Concerto for 3 violins in F major
Musica Antiqua Koln; Reinhardt Goebel, conductor Members of...
11:14 a.m.
Frederic Chopin
Les Sylphides: Suite
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra; Heinz Fricke, conductor
11:43 a.m.
Margaret Bonds
Hold On
PubliQuartet Musicality Vocal Ensemble; Lara Downes, piano
11:48 a.m.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Overture
Polish National Radio Orchestra; Antoni Wit, conductor
11:59 a.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 1 in D major Opus 6
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Nicholas McGegan, conductor
12:12 p.m.
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Guitar Concerto No. 1 in D major Opus 99
London Mozart Players; Andrew Litton, conductor Nicola Hall, guitar
12:34 p.m.
Margaret Bonds
Spiritual Suite
Michelle Cann, piano
12:48 p.m.
Felipe Villanueva
Poetic Waltz (Vals Poetico)
State of Mexico Symphony; Enrique Batiz, conductor
12:51 p.m.
Johann Strauss, Jr.
Vienna Blood Opus 354 Wiener Blut
Vienna State Opera Orchestra; Jascha Horenstein, conductor
1:00 p.m.
George Friederich Handel
Concerto Grosso No. 4 in F major Opus 3/4a HWV 315
Musicians of the Louvre; Marc Minkowski, conductor
1:13 p.m.
Sergei Prokofiev
Romeo & Juliet: Dance of the Knights Opus 64
Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor
1:18 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 26 "Coronation" in D major K 537 (FROM THE RUSSELL KLETZING COLLECTION)
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Alfred Brendel, piano
1:50 p.m.
Gioachino Rossini
LA CENERENTOLA: Overture "Cinderella"
London Symphony Orchestra; Claudio Abbado, conductor
2:00 p.m.
Margaret Bonds
Montgomery Variations
Philadelphia Orchestra; Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor
2:24 p.m.
Maddalena Casulana
Morir non puo il mio cuore
Palaver Strings
2:27 p.m.
Dorothy Howell
Piano Concerto in D minor in D minor
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Rebecca Miller, conductor Danny Driver, piano
2:47 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for 4 violins in Bb major RV 553
Europa Galante; Fabio Biondi, conductor Fabio Biondi, violin; Andrea Rognoni, violin; Raffaello Negri, violin; Renata Spotti, violin
2:59 p.m.
Wilhelm Stenhammar
Serenade in F major Opus 31
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
3:32 p.m.
Vincenzo Bellini
Norma: Overture
Philharmonic of La Scala; Riccardo Chailly, conductor
3:39 p.m.
Margaret Bonds
Simon Bore the Cross: I. Prelude
The Dessoff Choirs & Orchestra; Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
3:44 p.m.
Margaret Bonds
Simon Bore the Cross: VII. The Crucifixion
The Dessoff Choirs & Orchestra; Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
3:49 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Harpsichord Concerto in D minor BWV 974
Vikingur Olafsson, piano
4:00 p.m.
Oskar Bohme
Sextet for brass Opus 30
Atlantic Brass Quintet
4:17 p.m.
George Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue
London Symphony Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor Andre Previn, piano
4:33 p.m.
Agustin Barrios
Vals Tropical
David Russell, guitar
4:35 p.m.
William Grant Still
Wood Notes: I. Singing River
Fort Smith Symphony; John Jeter, conductor
4:43 p.m.
Josef Suk
Fantastic Scherzo Opus 25
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
4:59 p.m.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Russian Easter Festival Overture Opus 36
Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, conductor
5:15 p.m.
Franz Schubert
Fantasie for piano four-hands in F minor Opus 103 D 940
Jeffrey Kahane, piano; Wu Han, piano
5:34 p.m.
Margaret Bonds
Credo
The Dessoff Choirs & Orchestra; Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
5:59 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Rondo (originally for violin and orchestra) in C major K 373
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Iona Brown, conductor Pepe Romero, guitar
6:07 p.m.
Camargo Mozart Guarnieri
Enchantment (Encantamento)
Simon Bolivar Orchestra; Maximiano Valdez, conductor
6:15 p.m.
Johannes Brahms
Concerto for violin & cello "Double Concerto" in A minor Opus 102
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Daniel Barenboim, conductor Itzhak Perlman, violin; Yo Yo Ma, cello
6:47 p.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Melodie in E major Opus 3/3
Howard Shelley, piano
6:52 p.m.
Philip Glass
Powaqqatsi (Film Score): Anthem 1
Philip Glass Ensemble; MIchael Reisman, conductor
