Alexander Kastalsky (1856-1926)

Search_kastalsky-alexander-
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number approximately 175 (many published numbers contain several separate titles); there are also a number of unpublished works, primarily comprising arrangements of various pattern melodies (podobnï).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

MP3 Price: $9.99
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

MP3 Price: $9.99
A143_kastalsky_search Alexander Kastalsky Kastalsky: Memory Eternal (1917)

Alexander Kastalsky

The Clarion Choir

Steven Fox

Naxos

A143

CD Price: $12.98
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

Price: $9.95
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

Price: $19.95
Ks135(wc)_search Alexander Kastalsky Open to us the doors of thy mercy
Miloserdiya dveri

Alexander Kastalsky

SSAA

Church Slavonic

Ks135(wc)

Print Price: $3.10
Ks004cover_search Alexander Kastalsky Open unto us the doors
Miloserdiya dveri otverzi nam

Alexander Kastalsky

Satb (div)

Church Slavonic

Ks004

Print Price: $3.10
Omp-ks004e-cover_search Alexander Kastalsky Open Unto Us the Doors of Compassion

Alexander Kastalsky

SATB(div)

English

OMP-Ks004E

Print Price: $2.50
Digital Price: $2.50

Minimum qty. for digital score - 5

Ks134(wc)_search Alexander Kastalsky Our Father
Otche nash

Alexander Kastalsky

SSAA

Church Slavonic

Ks134(wc)

Print Price: $2.50
Ks118_search Alexander Kastalsky Praise the Name of the Lord No. 1
Hvalite imia Ghospodne No. 1

Alexander Kastalsky

Kievan Chant

SATB(div)

Church Slavonic

Ks118

Print Price: $3.10
Cc001_search Alexander Kastalsky Shepherds of Bethlehem
Pastïriye vifleyemstii

Alexander Kastalsky

Carol by St. Dmitry of Rostov

SATB

Russian

CC001

Print Price: $2.50
Digital Price: $2.50

Minimum qty. for digital score - 5

Cc001e_search Alexander Kastalsky Shepherds of Bethlehem

Alexander Kastalsky

Carol by St. Dmitry of Rostov

SATB

English

CC001E

Print Price: $2.50
Digital Price: $2.50

Minimum qty. for digital score - 5

Missing Alexander Kastalsky test

Alexander Kastalsky

Ks022

This item is temporarily out of stock.
Ks165_search Alexander Kastalsky Thou Alone Art Immortal
Sam Yedin yesi Bessmertnïy

Alexander Kastalsky

SATB (div)

Church Slavonic

Ks165

Print Price: $3.10
V1-74h_search Alexander Kastalsky Thy Resurrection, O Christ Our Savior
Voskreseniye Tvoye

Alexander Kastalsky

Kievan Chant

SATB

Church Slavonic

V1-74h

Print Price: $1.70
Track

Thy Bridal Chamber

Alexander Kastalsky

Holy Russia: Hymns of Great Lent and Pascha (2 CDs)

Church Choir of "Joy of All the Sorrowful"

Track

Lord, Now Lettest Thou

Alexander Kastalsky

O, Land of Russia (2 CDs)

Male Choir of the Moscow Representation

Track

Great Doxology

Alexander Kastalsky

Hymns of the Russian Orthodox Church (2 CD set)

Choir of the Church of "Joy of All Sorrowful" Icon - Moscow

Get the Sheet Music for this track: Ks123 Sheet_music_piece_cover_ks123_thumb
Track

Lesser Doxology

Alexander Kastalsky

O, Land of Russia (2 CDs)

Male Choir of the Moscow Representation

Track

Christ is Risen

Alexander Kastalsky

God Is With Us (3 Classic CDs in mp3 format)

Choirs of the Holy Trinity-St Sergius Monastery and Moscow Theological Academy

Get the Sheet Music for this track: Ks156 Ks156_thumb
Track

Great Litany

Alexander Kastalsky

God Is With Us (3 Classic CDs in mp3 format)

Choirs of the Holy Trinity-St Sergius Monastery and Moscow Theological Academy

Track

Dogmatik, 7th tone

Alexander Kastalsky

God Is With Us (3 Classic CDs in mp3 format)

Choirs of the Holy Trinity-St Sergius Monastery and Moscow Theological Academy

Track

Great Doxology

Alexander Kastalsky

O, Land of Russia (2 CDs)

Male Choir of the Moscow Representation

Track

We Hymn Thee

Alexander Kastalsky

Hymns of the Russian Orthodox Church (2 CD set)

Choir of the Church of "Joy of All Sorrowful" Icon - Moscow

Get the Sheet Music for this track: Ks013 Ks013_thumb
Track

Lord, Now lettest Thou

Alexander Kastalsky

God Is With Us (3 Classic CDs in mp3 format)

Choirs of the Holy Trinity-St Sergius Monastery and Moscow Theological Academy