Alexander Kastalsky (1856-1926)

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KASTALSKY, Aleksandr Dmitriyevich (b. 16 [28] November 1856, Moscow; d. 17 December 1926, Moscow) — studied theory and composition at the Moscow Conservatory under Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, and Gubert. From 1887 and for most of his career, Kastalsky was closely connected with the Moscow Synodal School of Church Singing, initially as a teacher of piano and conducting, from 1891 as assistant conductor (to Vasily Orlov), from 1900 as one of the precentors (of the left choir), and from 1910 as director of the School. From 1918 to 1926, when the Bolsheviks made it impossible for the Synodal School to continue its existence, he tried to salvage it in the form of the “People’s Choral Academy,” which eventually was absorbed into the Moscow Conservatory. Besides being active in church music, Kastalsky throughout his life worked in the field of musical ethnography, studying the characteristics of the Russian folk song, making arrangements of folk songs, and using elements of the latter in his compositions. As a composer, Kastalsky is a seminal figure, who was recognized by his contemporaries as having created a new direction in Russian church music. His followers included Pavel Chesnokov, Alexandre Gretchaninoff, Aleksandr Nikolsky, Viktor Kalinnikov, Constantine Shvedoff, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, among others. In Kastalsky’s sacred works, melodies and individual chant formulas of znamenny and other chants are combined with techniques of counter-voice polyphony, drawn from the Russian choral folk song. The skillful use of these peculiarly Russian elements give Kastalsky’s works a marked national flavor, while the use of church chants link them to ancient traditions of the church-musical aesthetic. Kastalsky’s published sacred works and arrangements number approximately 175 (many published numbers contain several separate titles); there are also a number of unpublished works, primarily comprising arrangements of various pattern melodies (podobnï). Kastalsky also edited the Obikhod Sinodal’novo khora [The Common Book of the Synodal Choir] in 1914. To make the performance of hymns in the so-called “common” chants more meaningful, he compiled the Prakticheskoye rukovodstvo k vïrazitel’nomu peniyu stikhir pri pomoshchi razlichnïkh garmonizatsiy [A practical manual for the expressive singing of stichera with the help of various harmonizations], which selectively applies major and minor harmony in accordance with the meaning and mood of a given liturgical texts.
A107_search Alexander Kastalsky Alexander Kastalsky: The Marriage Service and Sacred Works

Alexander Kastalsky

Domestik Municipal Choir of Ekaterinburg

Valery Kopanev

Domestik

A107

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E003_search Alexander Kastalsky Kastalsky (1856-1926): Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and Chants of the Russian Orthodox Church

Alexander Kastalsky

The Bolshoi Theatre Children's Choir

Andrey Zaboronok

Collins Classics

E003

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Ks-dl_search Alexander Kastalsky Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Liturgiya Sv. Ioanna Zlatousta

Alexander Kastalsky

Women's/Treble

Church Slavonic

10

58

Ks-DL

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Ks-req-cover-1_search Alexander Kastalsky Memory Eternal to the Fallen Heroes (Requiem)
Vechnaya Pamyiat geroyam

Alexander Kastalsky

Mixed

Church Slavonic

65

Ks-Req

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Ks156_search Alexander Kastalsky Christ Is Risen
Hristos voskrese

Alexander Kastalsky

SSAA

Church Slavonic

Ks156

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Ks161_search Alexander Kastalsky Give Rest, O Our Savior
Pokoy, Spase

Alexander Kastalsky

SATB (div)

Church Slavonic

Ks161

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Ks107mc_search Alexander Kastalsky Gladsome Light No. 1
Svete tihiy

Alexander Kastalsky

TTBB

Church Slavonic

Ks107mc

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Ks107_search Alexander Kastalsky Gladsome Light No. 1
Svete tihiy No. 1

Alexander Kastalsky

Kievan Chant

SATB

Church Slavonic

Ks107

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Sm-ks108b-cover_search Alexander Kastalsky Gladsome Light (No. 2b)
Svete tihiy (No. 2b)

Alexander Kastalsky

SATB (div)

Church Slavonic

Ks108b

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Ks109_search Alexander Kastalsky Gladsome Light No. 3
Svete tihiy

Alexander Kastalsky

SATB

Church Slavonic

Ks109

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Ks151_search Alexander Kastalsky Gladsome Light No. 4
Svete tihiy No. 4

Alexander Kastalsky

SATB(div)

Church Slavonic

Ks151

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Hnp027_search Alexander Kastalsky Gladsome Light (Synodal Obihod)

Alexander Kastalsky

Kievan Chant

SATB

English

HNP027

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Omp-ks116e_search Alexander Kastalsky Glory Be to God on High

Alexander Kastalsky

SATB

English

OMP-Ks116E

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Omp-ks145e_search Alexander Kastalsky Glory... Only-begotten Son, No. 2

Alexander Kastalsky

SATB (div)

English

OMP-Ks145E

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Track

Blessed art Thou, O Lord... (Evlogitaria)

Alexander Kastalsky

Matins for Holy Friday (The Burial of Christ)

Choir of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in London

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Track

Glory to Thee

Alexander Kastalsky

Alexander Kastalsky: The Marriage Service and Sacred Works

Domestik Municipal Choir Choir of Ekaterinburg

Track

Holy God

Alexander Kastalsky

Kastalsky (1856-1926): Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and Chants of the Russian Orthodox Church

The Bolshoi Theatre Children's Choir

Track

O Gentle Light

Alexander Kastalsky

Vespers of Good Friday

Choir of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in London

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Track

Open unto Us the Doors

Alexander Kastalsky

Panagia; Orthodox Hymns to the Mother of God

Archangel Voices

Track

St. Simeon's Prayer

Alexander Kastalsky

Let Us Pray to the Most Holy Mother of God; works by composers of the Moscow Synodal School

Male Choir of the Moscow Representation Church of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery

Track

Augmented Litany

Alexander Kastalsky

Kastalsky (1856-1926): Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and Chants of the Russian Orthodox Church

The Bolshoi Theatre Children's Choir

Track

Great Litany

Alexander Kastalsky

Alexander Kastalsky: The Marriage Service and Sacred Works

Domestik Municipal Choir Choir of Ekaterinburg

Track

Open to Us the Doors of Thy Mercy

Alexander Kastalsky

O Fervent Intercessor: Hymns to the Mother of God

Joint Choir of Trinity St. Sergius Monastery and Moscow Sacred Academy and Seminary

Track

Prokeimenon & Scripture Reading

Alexander Kastalsky

Vespers of Good Friday

Choir of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in London

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