In his day, Johann Adolph Hasse was at the forefront of Italian opera. Although he composed a fair amount of sacred works, he is best known for his operatic output. He was widely popular throughout Italy and Germany, and was commissioned by courts and opera houses throughout Europe. His performances were attended by cultural figures at the time, as well as some of the biggest names in common-era music today. In his later life, styles changed and so Hasse’s acclaim diminished after his death. But generations later, he was re-established as a figurehead and icon of classic ancient Italian opera, a designation he possesses even today. Biography & Musical Output Johann Adolph Hasse was born on March 25th, 1699, in Bergedorf, Germany. His family consisted of German church musicians and Hasse received his first musical education from his father. His great grandfather, Peter Hasse, had once held the position of organist at the Marienkirche in Lübeck and had gained some attention as a composer. Johann's grandfather, father, and brother, each held the position of organist at Bergedorf. Due to family connections, his father was administrator of a local charity intended for the poor of Bergedorf and it was this same charity which enabled fifteen-year-old Hasse to travel to Hamburg to study voice between 1714 and 1717. As a gifted tenor, he chose a theatrical career and in 1718, came under the operatic instruction of Richard Keiser in the Hamburg Opera. Hasse's success led to a performance at the court of Brunswick, and it was there that he made his debut as a composer with the opera Antioco in 1723. The success of this first work awarded him favor with the duke who eventually sent Hasse to Italy for the completion of his studies, and in ... ... middle of paper ... ...tion through voice selection and harmonic function. Hasse has returned to his celebrated status as we remember him in modern times for his influence and formation of the classic opera form. Works Cited Drummond, Pippa; “The Concertos of Johann Adolf Hasse.” Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, Vol. 99, Iss. 1, 1972. Anderson, Rick. "Johann Adolf Hasse. (Sound Recording Reviews)." Notes 58.4 (2002): 902. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. Charlton, David. “Johann Adolf Hasse” 2000. Classical Net. 2000. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. "Johann Adolph Hasse". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 14 Mar. 2014 “Johanne Adolphe Hasse”. NNDB. NNDB Online. Soylent Communications, 2014. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. Janice B. Stockigt, Jan Dismas Zelenka, 1679 – 1745: A Bohemian Musician at the Court of Dresden (Oxford, 2000)
Loyset Compere, an accomplished yet not very well-known composer of the 15th century, has been neglected as a figure in musical history. Historians through the ages have somehow left him out of most of their writings. Therefore, as modern researchers and discoverers, we have very little resources from which to gather information about Compere. In fact, even his date and place of birth are argued upon by historians. Thus, our study is limited to what we see on the pages of his music and what we glean from the music we hear (MCD 1490, Carapetyan).
Boynick, Matt. "Georg Friedric Handel." Classical Music Pages. 1 Feb. 1996. 13 July 2005 .
Rosowsky, Solomon. “The Music of the Pentateuch.” Proceedings of the Musical Association. Manchester: Royal Musical Association, 1934. pp. 38-66. Print.
Sadie, Stanley. New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The. Vol. II New York: The MacMillan Company, 1928
...ts of fever and general ill-health. And in his last ten years in Vienna, the constant need to write commissioned work - for he was the first of the composing freelances, with no regular patrons or court salaries - had worn him down to the point where one bout of fever was sure to finish him off. In July he'd had the anonymous commission to write a Requiem for the Dead; but that had been progressing slowly, because he'd been busy with two operas - La Clemenza di Tito and The Magic Flute - and two cantatas at the same time. Thirty-five years of artistic, social and personal pressure was taking its toll.
Mahler's early career was spent at a serious of regional opera houses (Hall in 1880, Laibach in 1881, Olmutz in 1882, Kassel in 1883, Prague in 1885, Liepzig in 1886-8, Budapest from 1886-8, and Hamburg from 1891-7), a normal career path, until he arrived as head of the Vienna Opera in 1897. Mahler ended some of the more slovenly performance pra...
There are two pieces in our Renaissance Era musical feature this evening, the first by Pierre Phalèse called Passamezzo d'Italye - Reprise – Gaillarde. Phalèse began as a bookseller in 1545 and not long after he set up a publishing house. By 1575 he had around 189 music books. Much of his work was devoted to sacred music but there was a small amount of Flemish songs and instrumental works. Phalèse borrowed work from many composers and did not hesitate to include other composer’s music in his works. The sec...
One of the greatest figures of 19th century European art, Wilhelm Richard Wagner, is most commonly recognized in the world by his outstanding operas. However, the legacy he left for the future generations goes far beyond his music. Wagner’s personal philosophy, controversial ideas, progressive vision, and most of all, his enigmatic personality still evokes interest among both his admirers and critiques. Addressing the composer’s musical heritage, it is probably the legendary opera Parsifal that is just as much disputed over as its creator. The significance of this work, as well as its controversy, seems to reflect Wagner’s complicated personality, and thus is worth studying even in more than a century after the composer’s death.
From the Early Renaissance to the High Renaissance, there was a movement from vocal music to a combination of vocal and instrumental music (Brown, 1976). There are seven categories of instrumental music: 1) vocal music played by instruments, 2) settings of pre-existing melodies, 3) variation sets, 4) ricercars, fantasias, and canzonas, 5) preludes, preambles, and toccatas for solo instruments, 6) dance music, and 7) songs composed specifically for lute and solo voice (Brown, 1976). Italy dominated the stage for instrumental music at this time, and it was not until the last decades of the sixteenth century that English instrumental music became popular (Brow...
Newman, Ernest “Bach, Johann Sebastian.” The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 1985, 11th Edition, pp. 102-108
Mann, Thomas. Doctor Faustus: the life of the German composer Adrian Leverkühn as told by a friend. Trans. John E. Woods. New York: Vintage Books, Random House, Inc., 1999.
Operas as a form of art became popular in society around the mid 17th century. Originating from Italy, people viewed the opera as a combination of poetry, dance and music. At the time, people were quick to be awed by the ability of the opera to combine all three forms of art into one show of theatre. Obviously, the opera was quick to spread and develop in other countries. The one destination the opera soon gained popularity and fame in was no surprise. As Oscar de la Renta once said, “If you want to establish an international presence you can’t do so from New York. You need the consecration of Paris.”
Vienna produced many of the great composers that we associate with the 18th-century Classic era, including Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. The works of these great composers are known and played all over the world to this day. However, there are a multitude of other Viennese composers who have earned less attention, and yet were still eagerly patronized in their day and remain historically significant for their influence on the musical style of the mid-18th-century. Carlo d’Ordonez is perhaps the most significant and prolific of these lesser-recognized Viennese composers of the 18th-century. A. Peter Brown “East and West”
A piece written by Puccini called Capriccio sinfonica, had a great review in the Milanese publication Perseveranza; this helped him build reputation as a young composer of promise in Milanese music circles. A year later, he did his first attempt at an opera; he composed the one act La villi for a local competition. He didn’t win, because the competition was snubbed by the judges, but it won him a small group of admirers who funded his opera’s
The Classical Period brought forward new musical innovation. The sudden change in emotion and contrast in the music from the classical era is one of the many fascinating topics. However, the topic most talked about to this very day is Mozart’s Requiem. The mystery of which parts were composed by Mozart puzzles many. Even the rumor that surrounds Mozart’s cause of death is fascinating. Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus, added more controversy to this intriguing mystery.