Johann Adolph Hass | |
|---|---|
 Clavichord, 1760, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg | |
| Baptised | 12 March 1713 |
| Died | buried 29 May 1771 |
| Other names |
|
| Citizenship | Hamburg |
| Occupation | maker of keyboard instruments |
Johann Adolph Rudolph Hass (baptised 12 March 1713, buried 29 May 1771), usually known as Johann Adolph Hass, was a German maker of clavichords, harpsichords and possibly organs. He was the son of Hieronymus Albrecht Hass, also a maker of keyboard instruments.
Hass was born in the Imperial Free City of Hamburg, and was baptised on 12 March 1713. He became a citizen of the city on 28 October 1746, and was admitted to the chamber of commerce in the following year. [1]
There is no mention of either Hass before 1758, when Jakob Adlung mentioned a cembal d'amour made by "Hasse in Hamburg". [1] Both father and son are mentioned in the German translation of Charles Burney's The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and United Provinces (1773): "Hasse, father and son, of Hamburg, both dead; their harpsichords and clavichords are much sought after". [2] : 238 Ernst Ludwig Gerber said much the same in his Historischbiographisches Lexicon of 1790. [2] : 238
Hass died in Hamburg and was buried on 29 May 1771. His business may have been continued by Johann Christoffer Krogmann, a builder of fortepianos who was married to Hass's daughter Margaretha Catharina. [1]
Hass's instruments are cleverly designed, strongly built, richly decorated and finely finished. [2] : 238
He built large clavichords of the kind that post-Baroque composers such as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote for, with good tone and volume, and capable of expressive bebung . [1]
Eight Hass harpsichords are known to survive. A massive instrument by Johann Adolph with two manuals and five sets of strings (16', 2 × 8', 4', 2'), with tortoiseshell natural keys and ivory-topped sharps, dates from 1760–1761, and is now in the Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments in New Haven, Connecticut. [3] : 312–313 A single-manual instrument from 1764, with two 8' and one 4' sets of strings, is in the Russell Collection in Edinburgh. [3] : 313–314
The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The clavichord produces sound by striking brass or iron strings with small metal blades called tangents. Vibrations are transmitted through the bridge(s) to the soundboard.
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism that plucks one or more strings with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic. The strings are under tension on a soundboard, which is mounted in a wooden case; the soundboard amplifies the vibrations from the strings so that the listeners can hear it. Like a pipe organ, a harpsichord may have more than one keyboard manual, and even a pedal board. Harpsichords may also have stop buttons which add or remove additional octaves. Some harpsichords may have a buff stop, which brings a strip of buff leather or other material in contact with the strings, muting their sound to simulate the sound of a plucked lute.
The virginals is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
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Johann Gottfried Müthel was a German composer and noted keyboard virtuoso. Along with C.P.E. Bach, he represented the Sturm und Drang style of composition.
Pascal-Joseph Taskin was a Belgium-born French harpsichord and piano maker.
Robert Goble (1903–1991) was an English harpsichord builder.
Hieronymus Albrecht Hass was a German harpsichord and clavichord maker. He was the father of Johann Adolph Hass, who also made harpsichords and clavichords.
The Couchet family were Flemish harpsichord and virginal makers in Antwerp, closely associated with, and descendants of, the Ruckers family.
The harpsichord was an important keyboard instrument in Europe from the 15th through the 18th centuries, and as revived in the 20th, is widely played today.
(Franz Hermann) Martin Skowroneck was a German harpsichord builder, one of the pioneers of the modern movement of harpsichord construction on historical principles.
Moritz Georg Moshack was a builder of Danish clavichords. Three of his instruments are known to exist: a fret-free clavichord dating to 1768 at the Norsk Folkemuseum, Oslo, Norway; a single manual harpsichord dating to 1770 at the Falsters Minder Museum, Nykøbing, Falster, Denmark; and the fret-free Clavichord dating to 1770 at the Danish Music Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Hass is a German surname. Notable people with this surname include the following:
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Raymond Anthony Russell,, was a British organologist and antiquarian. He was an expert on early keyboard instruments, and assembled an important collection which now forms the Raymond Russell Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments of the University of Edinburgh.
The Russell Collection is a substantial collection of early keyboard instruments assembled by the British harpsichordist and organologist Raymond Russell. It forms part of the Musical Instrument Museums collection of the University of Edinburgh, and is housed in St Cecilia's Hall. Its full name is the Raymond Russell Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments.
The Gräbner family were German harpsichord-, clavichord-, organ- and eventually piano makers from the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century. They are best known for their harpsichords, which represent a mid-german style of building, distinct from the better known northern style as represented by Hass, Mietke and Zell. The Gräbner family ran the most prominent instrument making workshop in Dresden, and were purveyors of harpsichords and organs to the court of Saxony. J.S. Bach was aquatinted with members of the Gräbner family and Christian Heinrich Gräbner studied organ playing under Bach.