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Joseph Castaldo

American composer (1927-2000)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ6282041
Source-derived summary

Joseph Francis Castaldo : Born December 22, 1927 – , Manhattan, New York Died January 27, 2000 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania was an American composer of classical music and a teacher of musical composition and music.

Castaldo was an important figure in Philadelphia musical life in the ’60s, ’70s, '80s and '90's, having served as the Head of the Philadelphia Musical Academy and guided that institution’s evolution into what is now the University of the Arts.

Works

Orchestral

Chamber

Theoria for fifteen winds, piano and percussion

Askesis (Cycles II) for 14 players

Elegy (on Texts of Rilke) for soprano and small orchestra

Protogenesis (for Fels Planetarium)

Full

Lacrimosa for strings

Lacrimosa II for strings

Epigrams for piano and orchestra

The Eye of God

Concerto for Cello

Concerto for viola and orchestra (1988–1989)

I. Lament

II. Canticle-Celebration

Soliloquy and Dialogues for clarinet and string orchestra

Landscapes

I. Snake River

Chamber

Lament for viola and piano

Lament for violoncello and piano (1988)

Lament for clarinet and piano

Dedications for flute and bassoon (1988)

Sarabande for solo violoncello

Two Pieces for solo clarinet (1985, revised 1987)

Where Silence Reigns for violin, violoncello and piano

Four Songs from Rilke for voice and piano

Kannon for solo flute (1978)

Memento Mori for horn, piano and percussion (1991)

Photographia for baritone voice, piano and percussion (1972)

Chamber Sonata for violin and viola

Dichotomy for woodwind quintet

Contrasts for solo harp (1956)

String Quartet (1978), #2

String Quartet (1994), #3

String Quartet (1954), #1

Piano

Toccata

Sonatina

Kaleidoscope

Sonata (1961)

Moments

Haiku

Metaphors

Choral

Ancient Liturgy (first performance, 1990)

Flight, Sacred Cantata for Soprano, Narrator, Mixed Chorus, Symphonic Winds, and Percussion; Text by John Shoemaker; Commissioned by the Temple University Choirs, Robert Page, Director.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Joseph Castaldo” as american composer (1927-2000). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1927, 2000, 1988, 1989—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1927-12-23. The account is most persuasive where Joseph, Castaldo and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american composer (1927-2000). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6282041. VIAF identifies the subject as 4336149198295874940003. The Library of Congress control number is n81084044. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1927, 2000, 1988 and 1989.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Joseph Castaldo”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Joseph Castaldo primary sources, Joseph Castaldo archive and Joseph research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Joseph Castaldo”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Joseph Castaldo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.