The Times & Music of Johann Adolf Hasse - Essay Example

The Times & Music of Johann Adolf Hasse Introduction Perhaps no other German composer of the 18th century has had more influence on the music of the opera and libretto as Johann Adolf Hasse. Hasse is remembered as one of the most influential and prolific composers of the 18th century, particularly with regard to libretto and opera music. He also had the good fortune to be married to an opera singer, Faustino Bordoni, and this fact undoubtedly must have helped him develop and perfect his music to international standards. Hasse is also known to have composed a considerable number of sacred pieces that were performed by churches and choirs in his time. However, his contributions to opera music, particularly in the strict opera seria style that dominated the 1700s are more well-regarded and appreciated by music critics today. Hasse was also fortunate to have achieved considerable fame in his own lifetime- a fate reserved for very few composers in classical music (Millner, 1974 & 1979). Biography and Musical Career Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783) was born in Bergdorf, one of the largest boroughs in Germany. He came from a family of church singers, organists and musicians. It was natural that he was to follow in their footsteps. Hasse’s father belonged to a musical family, and his great grandfather Peter Hasse had been employed as an organist in Lubeck where had gained some fame as a composer in his heyday (Degrada, 1975). Hasse’s father and brothers subsequently were given the position of organists at the local church. His father was the head of a local charity organization which facilitated Hasse study in Hamburg. Hasse began displaying great musical talent at the age of fifteen. In fact during the very next year, in 1721 Hasse was hired by the Hamburg Opera Company as a tenor on the recommendation of Johann Ulrich Konig, who was the private secretary and poet to the Saxon Court at Dresden. Konig subsequently recommended Hasse for a position in the opera of the Duke of Brunswick. Hasse sang the operas of Caldara, Conti and Schumann. In 1721 Hasse’s creative talents came to the fore when he composed and sang his very own first opera role, Antioco. In fact, it was Hasse who gave life to the title role while Schumann sang the part of Seleuco. At the time, Italy was a burgeoning point for singing and operatic talent. After traveling through Venice, Bologna, Florence and Rome, Hasse eventually decided to settle down in Naples for some time (Grove, 1992). While in Naples, he met both Nicolo Pompora and Alessandro Scarlatti and he studied under both of them by 1725. It was Scarlatti who was most impressed with Hasse’s talents and treated him like a son. During this period, Hasse also composed for a banker two voices for the opera Antony and Cleopatra. The work was so appreciated that it was given to be sung by two of the foremost opera singers of the day, Farinelli and Tesi (Tyrell & Sadie, 2003). The fame of Antony and Cleopatra marked the end of Hasse’s apprenticeship period. It gave him a chance to be recognized and appreciated by the Neapolitan Court. He was immediately commissioned to write a composition by the ruler of the Court, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. This was the start of Hasse’s career of international fame, which would span the next 60 years (Millner, 1974). Hasse composed seven operas for the Neapolitan Court in the next six years, starting with Sesostrate which was performed at the 9th birthday of the Princess Maria Theresa at the Teatro of San Bartolommeo on 13 May 1726. Tigrane was composed in 1729. By 1730, Hasse’s fame had spread far beyond Naples and he was invited to Venice to compose an opera there in the Carnival season (Tyrell & Sadie, 2003). He had now joined the ranks of Scarlatti, Pompora, Leo and Vinci- some of the best contemporaries of his time. All of them had served apprentices at the Neapolitan Court before coming to Venice. Hasse’s Artaserse was presented at the S Giovanni Grisotomo Theatre by some of the most famous arias of the time. Hasse also met and married his wife the famous soprano Faustina Bordoni in June 1730. They had by all accounts a happy marriage and produced three children- Maria, Cristina and Francesco Maria (Degrada, 1975). Hasse and Faustina were subsequently invited to serve at the Dresden Court in Venice. Count Vilo, the Dresden ambassador to Venice was making efforts to revive the opera as the previous one had been disbanded in 1720. The prince in waiting had known Faustina since 1716 when she had sang an opera in his honor on his visit to Venice. Although he wanted to hire both Faustina and Hasse, he had to wait till 1733 when he succeeded his father. Hasse and his wife gave their first performance here on 1 December 1733. In 1731 Hasse performed Daniello at the Viennese Court of Charles VI; this had been preceded by Dalisa and Armonio in 1730 (Heartz, 1973). Hasse’s entry at the Dresden Court under the new prince was marked by a private performance of Cleofide on 17 August 1733. Hasse produced 34 operas in the next 34 years for the Dresden Court. Atlanta, Lucio Papirio and Ipermestra rank among some of his best works (Heartz, 1973). Hasse produced musical works for emperors, rulers and the upper class society and his last work was written in 1783. Hasse retired to Venice in 1772 and spent some quiet time with his wife and daughter while still composing some religious music. Faustina having died on 04 November 1781 and Hasse followed on 16 December 1783 (Heartz, 1973). Social and Political Context Right from beginning, it was clear that Hasse was talented and that his talent and style would take him places. Hasse was also intelligent to realize that cultivating friendships with patrons would lead to a happy and propitious life. His talent and good fortune took him to the courts of Italy, Venice and other places in Europe. He was recognized and patronized for his good works and musical masterpieces all over Europe from Britain to Germany to France. Hasse performed for kings, queens, counts and princes all over the courts of Europe and by the end of his career, had led an eventful and illustrious life (Heartz, 1973). Purpose of the Music Hasse’s main skill lay in composing for the voice of the opera. The bel canto was his focus of composition and he was noted for his efforts at a beautiful display of lyrical melody- everything else took second place. However, Hasse has also been recognized as rebelling against the complexities of 17th century opera music. He has left behind a prodigious amount of work: 63 operas, 12 oratorios, about 20 masses and requiems, 90 cantatas and a lot of other pieces (Degrada, 1975) Overview of the Compositional Style Opera seria reflected a serious style and composition in music, as opposed to the opera buffa or comic style that was popular in France. This style had its roots in Italian opera, but it is interesting to note that Bach, Mozart and Hasse were among the most famous composers in this style. Since it was reserved for the upper classes of society, composers were often required to compose and sing praises of the reigning nobility through these compositions. With the decline of the nobility and its importance, the importance of opera seria also experienced its culmination (Dunn, 2000). The major work by Hasse was Antonio e Cleopatra which was composed for Farinelli and Florentine contralto Vittoria Tesi. The opening seranata by Matthew Dirst involves violin and oboe, with the tempo indicating an air of expectancy or events lying in wait to unfold. As we move on to the arias, the music is playing second fiddle in the background while the emphasis is on the speaker singer (Grove, 1992). Ultimately the organ forms the enter piece for the musical element even though on no account does it attempt to drown out the speaker’s words. Clearly it is the violin, the oboe and the organ that make up most of the music for Antony and Cleopatra, one of Hasse’ earliest works. Even in describing death. Hasse is excellent as the strings of the violin are almost imperceptible yet manage to retain just the right aura and mood for the event. A sense of adventure in the last piece is clearly discernible with the choice of instruments and tempo of the closing scene. Violin clearly plays a great part in giving the final effects (Tyrell & Sadie, 2003) Hasse knew his singers’ abilities well. This is clearly evidenced in eight arias disposition in Antonio e Cleopatra where virtuosic music was sung by Farinelli while cantabile arias are received by Tesi (Tyrell & Sadie, 2003). Hassse hold Farinelli’s virtuosity in duets that close each other to increase Signora Tesi demands. The duets illustrated that opera seria lovers were both grouped as high voices that frequently used parallel third and sixth and close part-writing to emphasize the closeness or intimacy of the main characters. The best musical work in Antonio e Cleopatra is in cantabile arias and is characterized by elegant phrase of turns (Grove, 1992). It is this tune that Hasse became famous. A good example of graceful lyricism is arias‘Là tra i mirti degl’Elisi’ and ‘Fra le pompe peregrine’ developed by using simple means to bring together many gestures to generate fine filigree melodies (Grove, 1992). The recordings are commendable in spite of their shortcomings because of their splendid musical version that no any other composer has ever tried use. The beauty of Hasse musical works continues to captivate today’s listeners the same it did three centuries ago (Grove, 1992). The conventions of the baroque era were used to compose Opera seria by developing and making use of da capo aria in the form of A-B-A. The theme was in the first section. The second section was complementary, and the third section was an ornamental repetition of the first section. When arias grew, typical opera seria contained no more than thirty musical movements (Tyrell & Sadie, 2003). Instrumental overture would be used to start a typical opera in three movements that was in the form of fast-slow-fast followed by recitative series containing dialogue interspersed within arias conveying musical emotions of the character. The pattern would occasionally be broken duet in the leading amatory couple (Grove, 1992). The recitative was called Secco to mean accompanied by continuo (harpsichord or cello) only. Secco was replaced by recitative stromentato in moments of violent passion. This is where the singer is accompanied by entire strings and oboe to excite the stage encouraging the audience to applaud. This is then continued for scenes or acts followed by upbeat chorus and celebration of the joyful climax in the conclusion (Dunn, 2000). Hasse thus captured the best learning from his contemporaries and mentors, but his genius was that he managed to outlast and outperform most composers. Hasse was among the most well paid musicians of his time, earning ten times the salary of Bach (Dunn, 2000). Keen choice of the key signature was an important factor in Hasses style where particular emotions were usually earmarked by certain key that were chosen (Degrada, 1975). For example, feelings of amorous were represented by A, while aristocratic expressions of nobility used C and B flat. In addition, Hasse fear-inducing and supernatural music went into keys of C and F minor. In most cases, his arias begin in a major key and change to minor in the B section and then return to major for da capo. Later in his career, arias became longer but the lyrical sense remained unchanged (Millner, 1979) References Dunn (2000). Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Schrimer. Degrada, F. (1975) Aspetti gluckiani nell’ultimo Hasse, Chigiana Grove, G. (1992). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Barnes &Noble. Heartz (1973). Hasse, Galuppi and Metastasio. Veneziae il melodrama nel. settecento: Venice Millner, F. L. (1979) Operas of Johann Adolf Hasse. Studies in Musicology 2 Ann Arbor MI: UMI Research Press. Millner, F.L. (1974). Hasse and London’s Opera of the Nobility. Music Records. Tyrell, J. and Sadie, S. (2003). New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Oxford. Read More