Dario Castello (baptised 19 October 1602 – 2 July 1631, likely a plague victim) was an Italian composer and violinist in Venice, leader of a wind band (piffari) and later a violinist at St Mark’s under Monteverdi. His biography was long disputed by scholars — a 1972 study found no archival trace of him — before more recent archival research supported the dates given here.

A transitional figure between the canzona and the sonata, Castello is known chiefly through his two published books of Sonate concertate in stil moderno (1621 and 1629), landmark works in the early history of the instrumental sonata.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Castello