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number approximately 175 (many published numbers contain several separate titles); there are also a number of unpublished works, primarily comprising arrangements of various pattern melodies (podobnï).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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A143_kastalsky_search Alexander Kastalsky Kastalsky: Memory Eternal (1917)

Alexander Kastalsky

The Clarion Choir

Steven Fox

Naxos

A143

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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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Ks013_search Alexander Kastalsky A mercy of peace
Milost' mira No. 2

Alexander Kastalsky

Znamenny Chant

SATB (div)

Church Slavonic

Ks013

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Sheet_music_piece_cover_ks006_search Alexander Kastalsky A mercy of peace
Milost' mira No. 1

Alexander Kastalsky

Znamenny Chant

SATB (div)

Church Slavonic

Ks006

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Ks132(wc)_search Alexander Kastalsky A Mercy of Peace (No. 7 from Liturgy)
Milost' mira

Alexander Kastalsky

SSAA

Church Slavonic

Ks132(wc)

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Ks024-cover_search Alexander Kastalsky As Many as Have Been Baptized (Znamenny Chant)
Yelitsi vo Hrista

Alexander Kastalsky

Znamenny

SATB(div)

Church Slavonic

Ks024

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Fs043_search Alexander Kastalsky At My Father's Gate
U vorot, vorot

Alexander Kastalsky

SATB

Russian

FS043

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Ks028-blazheni-cover-for-web_search Alexander Kastalsky Blessed Are They Whom Thou Hast Chosen
Blazheni yazhe izbral

Alexander Kastalsky

S(div)A(div)T(div)B(div)

Church Slavonic

Ks028

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Ks035_search Alexander Kastalsky Blessed is the man
Blazhen muzh

Alexander Kastalsky

Moscow Dormition Cathedral Chant

SATB (div)

Church Slavonic

Ks035

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Ks130(wc)_search Alexander Kastalsky Cherubic Hymn (No. 6 from Liturgy)
Heruvimskaya pesn'

Alexander Kastalsky

SSAA

Church Slavonic

Ks130(wc)

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Omp-ks156mxe_search Alexander Kastalsky Christ is Risen

Alexander Kastalsky

SATB

English

OMP-Ks156mxE

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Ks156mx_search Alexander Kastalsky Christ Is Risen
Hristos voskrese

Alexander Kastalsky

SATB

Church Slavonic

Ks156mx

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Open to us the doors of your mercy

Alexander Kastalsky

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

The Bolshoi Theatre Children's Choir

Track

Prayer

Alexander Kastalsky

Alexander Kastalsky: The Marriage Service and Sacred Works

Domestik Municipal Choir Choir of Ekaterinburg

Track

A Mercy of Peace, Op. 6

Alexander Kastalsky

The Sacred Spirit of Russia

Conspirare

Get the Sheet Music for this track: Ks006 Sheet_music_piece_cover_ks006_thumb
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Augmented Litany

Alexander Kastalsky

Alexander Kastalsky: The Marriage Service and Sacred Works

Domestik Municipal Choir Choir of Ekaterinburg

Track

Christ is risen

Alexander Kastalsky

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

The Bolshoi Theatre Children's Choir

Get the Sheet Music for this track: Ks156 Ks156_thumb
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Litany Before the Lord's Prayer (Znamenny)

Alexander Kastalsky

Our God is in Heaven and on Earth

St. Symeon Orthodox Church Choir

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Memory Eternal

Alexander Kastalsky

Kastalsky: Memory Eternal (1917)

The Clarion Choir

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Open the Doors of Thy Mercy

Alexander Kastalsky

Kastalsky: Memory Eternal (1917)

The Clarion Choir

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Our Father

Alexander Kastalsky

Alexander Kastalsky: The Marriage Service and Sacred Works

Domestik Municipal Choir Choir of Ekaterinburg

Track

Praise the Name of the Lord

Alexander Kastalsky

Beautiful Pascha (Paskha Krasnaya)

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