Kassern, Tadeusz (Zygfrid)
Kassern, Tadeusz (Zygfrid)
Kassern, Tadeusz (Zygfrid), Polish-born A-merican composer; b. Lemberg, March 19, 1904; d. N.Y., May 2, 1957. He studied composition with Soltys and piano with Lalewicz at the Lwow Cons., and later with Opienski and Brzostowski at the Poznan Cons. (1922–26); also studied law. He went to Paris (1931), then was made cultural attaché at the Polish Consulate in N.Y. (1945). He broke with the Communist government in Poland, and remained in N.Y., becoming a naturalized American citizen in 1956. As a composer, he pursued a cosmopolitan trend. Although many of his works are inspired by Polish folk music, the idiom and the method are of a general European modern character.
Works
dramatic operaThe Anointed (1949-51); Sun-Up (1952; N.Y., Nov. 10, 1954); Comedy of the Dumb Wife (1953); Eros and Psyche (1954; unfinished).orch Flute Con certo (1934); Dies irae, symphonic poem in memory of Marshal Pilsudski (1935; not extant); Concertino for Oboe and Strings (1936-37; rev. 1946); Double Bass Concerto (1937); Concerto for Strings (1944); Concertino for Flute, Strings, Xylophone, and Celesta (1948); Teen-Age Concerto for Piano and Orch. (1952; N.Y., May 1956). other: Chamber music; piano pieces; choruses; songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire