Tadeusz Zygfryd Kassern ( Lemberg, Austro-Hungarian Empire, 19 March 1904 –

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

(United States), 2 May 1957) was a Polish composer of Jewish origin. Born in Lemburg, he studied at the conservatory of the Polish Music Society in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

and later at the conservatory in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

. He studied composition with

Mieczysław Sołtys Mieczysław Sołtys (February 7, 1863 - November 11, 1929) was a Polish composer, conductor, teacher, music and public figure. Biography He studied in Lviv Conservatory as a composer (under Carl Mikuli) and at the same time as philosopher in L ...

and piano with

Jerzy Lalewicz Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means "swift" in Polish. Peopl ...

. In addition, he had a law degree from the University of Poznan. During the war, Kassern lived in

, Cracow and Warsaw. In the Nazi occupied parts of Poland Kassern was using false identity papers to protect himself from the Gestapo. In the post-war years, he served as a

cultural attaché A cultural attaché is a diplomat with varying responsibilities, depending on the sending state of the attaché. Historically, such posts were filled by writers and artists, giving them a steady income, and allowing them to develop their own crea ...

in New York to the new Polish government. In 1948 Kassern, after a brief visit to the communist-ruled Poland, suddenly resigned his position, renounced his Polish citizenship and applied for US asylum. Kassern's application for asylum was denied due to missing a deadline set for asylum seekers; depressed, he attempted suicide. He worked for the Third Street Music School Settlement and the Dalcroze School of Music in New York City.
Among his compositions are three operas, symphonic suite "Tatry", solo concertos for flute, piano, oboe and double bass, cantatas, songs with piano accompaniment, and several solo piano works. Kassern died of cancer in 1957. Among Kassern's well known students was the Italian-born American composer

Dalmazio Santini Dalmazio Santini (September 11, 1923 – October 4, 2001) was an Italian-born American composer. Early life Santini was born in Capestrano in the Abruzzo province of Italy. He immigrated to the United States at age 14. He attended public schools ...

(1923-2001).

Sources

''World of Quotes''
1904 births 1957 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century male musicians Polish composers Polish male classical composers Polish emigrants to the United States {{poland-composer-stub