Johann Adolph Rudolph Hass (baptised 12 March 1713, buried 29 May 1771), usually known as Johann Adolph Hass, was a German maker of

clavichord The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance music, Renaissance, Baroque music, Baroque and Classical period (music), Classical eras. Historically, it was most ...

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

s 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 Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, 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 A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

in the following year. There is no mention of either Hass before 1758, when

Jakob Adlung Jakob Adlung, or Adelung, (14 January 1699 – 5 July 1762) was a German organist, teacher, instrument maker, music historian, composer and music theorist. Biography He was born in Bindersleben, near Erfurt, to David Adlung, an organist and his ...

mentioned a ''cembal d'amour'' made by "Hasse in Hamburg". Both father and son are mentioned in the German translation of

Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicis ...

'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".

Ernst Ludwig Gerber Ernst Ludwig Gerber (29 September 1746 in Sondershausen, Germany – 30 June 1819 in Sondershausen) was a German composer, organist, cellist, and author of a famous dictionary of musicians. His father, Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber (1702–1775), a ...

said much the same in his ''Historischbiographisches Lexicon'' of 1790. Hass died in Hamburg and was buried on 29 May 1771. His business may have been continued by Johann Christoffer Krogmann, a builder of

fortepiano A fortepiano is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1700 up to the early 19th century. Most typically, however, it is used to ref ...

s who was married to Hass's daughter Margaretha Catharina.

Instruments

Hass's instruments are cleverly designed, strongly built, richly decorated and finely finished. He built large clavichords of the kind that post-

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

composers such as

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German composer and musician of the Baroque and Classical period. He was the fifth ch ...

wrote for, with good tone and volume, and capable of expressive '' bebung''. 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 Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced from the shells of the larger species of tortoise and turtle, mainly the hawksbill sea turtle, which is a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List largely because of its ...

natural keys and

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

-topped sharps, dates from 1760–1761, and is now in the

Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

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

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Life

Instruments

References

Further reading