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Johann Adolf Hasse (1699–1783)
All
works by Johann Adolf Hasse at Carus
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About the person
Johann Adolf Hasse was as a composer the undisputed idol of later baroque
era. He was the musical representative of the final splendour of absolutism
shortly before dawn which brought the radical changes of the French Revolution.
Although his works have almost faded into oblivion, in no small part
due to their identification with the Ancien régime, Hasse?s graceful,
light-hearted and distinctively expressive music still has the power to
please and to persuade and is rediscovered in our days more and more.
Hasse composed instrumental music, works for the church, oratorios, secular
cantatas, serenades and intermezzi, but above all, he composed operas
in the manner of the ?Dramma per musica? as characterized by the libretti
of Pietro Metastasio.
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Hasse?s creative output spanned almost 60 years and set
high standards. It represented both stylistic change as well as the continuity
of the baroque era.
Hasse was born in March 1699 in Bergedorf, which today is a part of Hamburg.
After initial success as a singer he turned to composition. In Naples where
he converted to Catholizism he was one of the last students of Alessandro Scarlatti.
In 1730 he married the famous singer Faustina Bordoni in Venice. During his
almost 30 year career as director of music at the Court of Dresden musical life
flourished there under his guidance.
Church Music
In his sacred works Hasse composed effective choral scores which in their level
of difficulty do not pose performance problems for the majority of today?s choirs
and thus they are aptly suitable for a place in the church music as it is performed
today (and of course it should be remembered that large choirs in the sense
of oratorio singing of the 19th. century did not exist in Hasse?s time).
Chamber Music
Hasse?s instrumental compositions do not comprise a major part of his creative
output. Nonetheless, most of these works are pleasent, charming works with a
predominalty cheerful character.
Hasse Studies
Hasse
- Complete edition
Additional works
– Messe in d (1751) (L), Carus
40.663
– Miserere in d (Psalm 50) (L), Carus
40.708
– Miserere in F (L), Carus
40.807/10
– Miserere in c (L), Carus
40.961
– Regina coeli in D (L), Carus
40.962
– Domine ad adiuvandum me (L), Carus
40.965
– Dixit Dominus (L), Carus
40.966
– Confitebor tibi (L), Carus
40.968
– Beatus vir (L), Carus
40.969
– Laudate pueri (L), Carus
40.970
– Salve Regina in A (L), Carus
40.967
– Salve Regina in F (L), Carus
40.709
– Te Deum (1751) (L), Carus
40.963
– Venite pastores. Motetto pastorale (L), Carus
40.964
Instrumental music
– Sechs Sonaten / Cemb (Pfte), Carus
40.596
– Sechs Triosonaten, Carus
40.582
Sonata I in e / Sonata II in C / Sonata III in A
Sonata IV in G / Sonata V in E / Sonata VI in D
– Sechs Violinsonaten, Carus
16.061
With the exception of his opera sinfonias, the first edition of the Six Violin
Sonatas by Johann Adolf Hasse is the only instrumental work by this composer
whose authorship can be verified through his handwritten entries in a manuscript
copy. The composer gave these pieces a profile completely tailored to the instrument,
a fact which places them in sharp contrast to those compositions which can be
played by various melody instruments.
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