Dario Castello

Dario Castello (bapt. 19 October 1602, Venice – 2 July 1631, Venice) was an Italian composer and violinist from the early Baroque period who worked and published in Venice. As a composer, he was a late member of the Venetian School and had a role in the transformation of the instrumental canzona into the sonata. Biographical details Dario Domenico Castello was born in Venice, where he was baptised on 19 October 1602. The title page of the 1621 edition of the first volume of the Sonate Concertate in stil moderno records him as Capo di Compagnia de Musichi d’Instrumenti da fiato in Venetia, indicating that he led a Venetian company of piffari, a band that could include sackbuts, cornetts, shawms, but also violins and viols. On 19 November 1624, he was appointed «sonador di violin» (violin player) of the St. Mark’s music chapel, at the time headed by Claudio Monteverdi. The title page of the second volume (1629) of the “Sonate concertate in Stil moderno” lists him as Musico Della Serenissima Signoria di Venetia in S. Marco, & Capo di Compagnia de Instrumenti, indicating that he worked at the great Basilica of St. Mark’s where Claudio Monteverdi was maestro di capella. Castello’s use o