February 17-23, 2005

musicpicks

Cynthia and Alexander

by Peter Burwasser

classical

As founding fathers go, Alexander Hamilton does not get the attention of George, Ben, Thomas or John. The author of the Federalist Papers and the first Secretary of the Treasury will probably always be best remembered as the loser of the duel with Aaron Burr. Two hundred and one years after Hamilton's death, Philadelphia composer Cynthia Folio has written a chamber work in his honor, which will receive its world premiere, very appropriately, at the National Constitution Center. The piece has an unusual scoring — for strings, piano, saxophone, percussion and narrator/baritone — because it was specifically written for the current roster of the Astral musicians. Folio, who was once as uninformed about Hamilton as the rest of us, is now a walking, talking expert, and has shaped a piece of three movements and two interludes around the main events of his life, including a fugal exposition reflecting his establishment of the Constitution as the law of the land, music based on his favorite tavern song, "Why, Soldiers, Why?" and, of course, the duel itself. In the last movement, titled "A Happy Immortality," Folio uses dissonant scraps of music to set words from the famous letters between Hamilton and Burr culminating in a musical depiction of the duel, and concludes quietly with lines from Hamilton's last letter to his wife, the source of the title. The Astral players will also play music of Kodly and the wonderful Piano Quintet in A major by Dvork.

Astral at the National Constitution Center, Fri., Feb. 18, 8 p.m., $5-$22, 525 Arch St., 215-735-6999, www.astralartisticservices.org