Alexand(e)r Dmitriyevich Kastalsky () ( – 17 December 1926) was a Russian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

. Kastalsky was born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

protoiereus A ''protoiereus'' (from , "first priest", Modern Greek: πρωθιερέας), or protopriest in the Eastern Orthodox Church, is a priest usually coordinating the activity of other subordinate priests in a larger church. The title is roughly equiv ...

(a title roughly equivalent to archpriest)

Dmitri Ivanovich Kastalsky Dmitry (); Church Slavic form: Dimitry or Dimitri (); ancient Russian forms: D'mitriy or Dmitr ( or ) is a male given name common in Orthodox Christian culture, the Russian version of Demetrios (, ). The meaning of the name is "devoted to, dedi ...

(1820–1891). He studied music theory, composition and the piano at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

. In 1887 he started teaching piano at

Moscow Synodal School The Moscow Synodal School () and the associated Moscow Synodal Choir were the main centre of teaching for Russian Orthodox Church music in Russia prior to dissolution and merger with the choral faculty of Moscow Conservatory in 1919. The school or ...

, and in 1891 became assistant precentor of the

Moscow Synodal Choir The Moscow Synodal Choir (Московский Синодальный хор), founded 1721, was the choir attached to the Moscow Synodal School prior to its dissolution and merger into the choral faculty of the Moscow Conservatory in 1919. The choi ...

. He was director of both from 1910–1918 until the school was dissolved and merged with the choral faculty of the Conservatory, and the choir was forced to move from sacred to folk repertory. He wrote his first choral works in 1896. By 1917 he had written over 130 works and established himself as an important composer of the neo-Russian style with an influence on choral composers such as

Sergei Rachmaninov Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

, Victor Kalinnikov, Alexander Grechaninov and

Pavel Chesnokov Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov (Russian: Пáвел Григóрьевич Чеснокóв) (24 October 1877, Voskresensk, Zvenigorodsky Uyezd, Moscow Governorate – 14 March 1944, Moscow, also transliterated ''Tschesnokoff'', ''Tchesnokov'', ...

. After the

1917 Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a civil war. It ...

, he devoted himself to the study of folksongs. This resulted in many choral works from which the most important are ''The Village Symphony'' (1923) and ''Rural Work in Folksongs'' (1924).

Selected works

* Klara Milich (opera, 1916) *Scenes of Folk Festivals in Old Russia (1913)John McGinness and Pieter C. van den Toorn, ''Stravinsky and the Russian Period: Sound and Legacy of a Musical Idiom'', Cambridge University Press, 2012, . "Among these, 'Scenes of Folk Festivals in Old Russia' (1913) by the folk music specialist Alexander Kastalsky had sought to recreate folk ritual based on ethnographic description and field-collected folk song." *Requiem for Fallen Heroes (вечная память героям) (1917)

Pedagogical works

* Properties of the Russian Folk Music System ("Особенности народно-русской музыкальной системы"), 1923 * Principles of Folk Polyphony ("Основы народного многоголосия"), 1948 (ed. V.M.Belyaev)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kastalsky, Alexander Dmitriyevich 1856 births 1926 deaths Composers from the Russian Empire Folklorists from the Russian Empire Moscow Conservatory alumni Soviet composers 19th-century classical composers from the Russian Empire