Kastle, Leonard (Gregory)

Kastle, Leonard (Gregory), American composer and pianist; b. N.Y., Feb. 11, 1929. After attending the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. (1938–40), he received training in piano from Sheridan and in composition from Szell at the Mannes Coll. of Music in N.Y. (1940–42). He then studied piano with Wittgenstein and Vengerova, and also held scholarships in composition with Scalerò, Menotti, and Barber at the Curtis Inst, of Music in Philadelphia (1944-50; B.A., 1950). He further attended Columbia Univ. (1947–50), and was a student in conducting with Bamberger in N.Y. (1950–52). He was a visiting prof, of humanities and fine arts at the State Univ. of N.Y. at Albany (1978–88).

Works

dramaticOpera: The Swing (1954; NBC-TV, June 11, 1956); Deseret (1960; NBC-TV, Jan. 1, 1961; rev. for Voices, Piano, and Organ, 1978); The Pariahs (1962-66); The Calling of Mother Ann (Hancock Shaker Village, Mass., June 21, 1985); The Journey of Mother Ann (1986-87; Albany, N.Y., Jan. 22, 1987); Professor Lookalike and the Children (1988; Albany, N.Y., May 8, 1989); The Countess Cathleen (1995). Play with M u s i c: The Birdwatchers (1980-81). orch.: Piano Concerto (Albany, N.Y., Feb. 14, 1981, composer soloist).chamber: Piano Sonata (1950); Violin Sonata (1955; rev. version, Albany, N.Y., March 17, 1986); Piano Suite (1957). vocal:From a Whitman Reader for Voice and Orch. (1954); 3 Walt Whitman Songs for Chorus (1956); Acquainted with the Night, song cycle, after Robert Frost (1957); 3 Songs from Moby Dick for Chorus (1963); Pontoosuc for Baritone and Orch. (1974-75; Tanglewood, July 4, 1976); Mass for Chorus, Organ, and Piano (PBS, Dec. 25, 1977; rev. version, Albany, N.Y., May 30, 1978).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire