Theodore Presser; ASCAP
tenor and chamber orchestra
Text: Jonathan Swift
Soloist: tenor
1.1.1.1.-2.1.0.0 timp cel perc-str (also available for tenor and piano)
Comm. and prem: 2/00; Cleveland Chamber Orchestra
Rec: 2001; Cleveland Camber Orchestra, Albany Records
Using Jonathan Swift’s satiric essay as text, Bond weaves fragments of familiar nursery songs together to produce a potent blend of humor and horror.
"A shocker...pro

Protone Music; ASCAP
baritone-pno
Text: Albert Einstein
Comm. and prem: 4/25/01; Joy in Singing, Merkin Hall, NY
Using the words from a letter written in 1927 about the relationship of art to science, the song takes its musical form from the highly-structured pattern of Einstein's thoughts.

Subito Music Corp.

bar.pno

Comm. and prem: 3/28/92; Symphony Space, NYC

Subito Muisc Corp.

sop.fl.vn.vc.pno

Prem: 10/18/84; North/South Consonance Ensemble, NYC

Theodore Presser; ASCAP
Text: James Joyce, Ulysses
soprano and string quartet
Prem: 3/10/91; Albany City Arts Building, Albany NY
"Ms. Bond's work, a setting of the final section pf Ulysses, grants Molly something that Joyce denied her when he married her off to Bloom: she lets Molly be a prima donna, and gives her a powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding soprano line. Like Joyce's text, it is by turns wistful, angry, caustic, rhapsodic and nostalgic. And around it, Ms Bond has woven an expressive, dynamic quartet score in which the instruments are heard alone, in duets with Molly, and in a promiscuous combination of duets, trios and full ensembles. The language is pervasively chromatic, yet it takes in influences of all sorts, including blues, a waltz and fragments of popular songs mentioned by Joyce." -The New York Times
"Impressive, ambitious and effective." -Harold Prince

Protone Music; ASCAP
Text: Huang Chen
mezzo sop-vc-pno
Prem: 4/21/06; Chinese Fine Arts Society, Chicago, IL
The poem, On The Way by Chinese poet Huang Chen, is based on the legend of the Great Wall. Using an ancient, traditional Chinese melody, the song begins with Lady Meng's arduous trip to the Great Wall, her innermost thoughts expressed by the cello, an instrument very similar in timbre and flexibility to the Chinese erhu. The cello plays variations on The Four Seasons, the traditional melody, while the piano reflects the monotony of her steps, trudging endlessly towards her goal. She is propelled by hope, but when she learns the awful truth, she exclaims "Let the Great Wall fall" and she moans in agony. Finally resigned, she softly hums the traditional melody in a brief duet with the cello, and rocks herself to sleep and finally death.

Subito Music Corp; ASCAP
Text: Wallace Stevens
soprano-pno-perc (tam-tam.hi-hat cymb.wind chimes.trgl.tamb)
Prem: 4/16/78; 92nd Street Y, NYC
"An aurally and visually unique work. Bond has designated specific letters for the five positions assumed by the singer during the performance. The singer moves at specified times in order to play particular percussion instruments while singing or during interludes. This work is fascinating in its use of the voice. Bond moves quickly from cantabile to whispering in the first few bars. The considerable use of sprechstimme and whispered tones is contrasted by a long-spun cadenza. There is also a great deal of dramatic and dynamic contrast. It is rhythmically complex for both performers and has frequent meter changes. The clever use of vocal and percussive effects creates a phantasmagorical work, difficult to interpret but well worth the effort." -New Directions
"An ambitious and diverting monodrama." -NY Times

Protone Muisc

Soloists: mezzo sop bcl-vn.db-pno

Comm. and prem: 5/18/03; Sequitur, Joe’s Pub, NYC