Johann Adolph Hass

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.

Life

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.Vorlage:R

There is no mention of either Hass before 1758, when Jakob Adlung mentioned a cembal d'amour made by "Hasse in Hamburg".Vorlage:R 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".Vorlage:R Ernst Ludwig Gerber said much the same in his Historischbiographisches Lexicon of 1790.Vorlage:R

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.Vorlage:R

Instruments

Hass's instruments are cleverly designed, strongly built, richly decorated and finely finished.Vorlage:R

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.Vorlage:R

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.Vorlage:R A single-manual instrument from 1764, with two 8' and one 4' sets of strings, is in the Russell Collection in Edinburgh.Vorlage:R

Further reading

• Raymond Russell, The Harpsichord and Clavichord (London, 1959, 2/1973)
• Frank Hubbard, Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making (Cambridge, MA, 1965, 2/1967)