IDAGIO | Hasse: Mass in D minor - Miserere in C minor 845221051253

Featuring

Hermann Max
Mária Zádori
Lena Susanne Norin
Hans Jörg Mammel
Klaus Mertens
Kai Wessel

Wilfried Jochens
Stephan Schreckenberger
Das Kleine Konzert
Rheinische Kantorei
Johann Adolph Hasse

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Historical Context

In 1697, Augustus the Strong, the reigning prince of Protestant Saxony, converted to Catholicism for political reasons, which led to the establishment of Catholic court services in Dresden.

Composer Biography

Hasse served as court Kapellmeister in Dresden from 1733 to 1763 and was also "maestro di cappella" at the Ospedale degli Incurabili, an orphanage for girls in Venice, from at least 1736.

Compositional Technique

Hasse's personal style combines virtuosity with elegance in vocal lines, features "pre-classical" harmony rich in chromaticism and seventh chords, and uses expressive, contrasting instrumentation.

Composer Biography

Johann Adolf Hasse, born in 1699, lived "between the epochs," being younger than Bach and Handel but older than Haydn and Mozart, and was one of the formative composers of his time.

Composition History

Hasse's Mass in D minor and a Te Deum by him were performed on June 29, 1751, at the consecration of the new court chapel in Dresden, designed by Gaetano Chiaveri.

Compositional Technique

Hasse's Mass in D minor is a "number Mass" typical of its time, subdividing the five sections of the Mass Ordinary into fifteen smaller, musically independent movements.

Compositional Technique

Hasse's Miserere in C minor exists in multiple authentic versions, as he often adapted his works to different local circumstances, including a version for female voices and a later one for mixed choir.