Alexander Kastalsky

Alexand(e)r Dmitriyevich Kastalsky (Russian: Александр Дмитриевич Кастальский) (28 November [O.S.

16 November] 1856 – 17 December 1926) was a Russian composer and folklorist.

He studied music theory, composition and the piano at the Moscow Conservatory.

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.

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, Victor Kalinnikov, Alexander Grechaninov and Pavel Chesnokov.