Do you love the great masses of Haydn and Mozart? Then check out Johann
Adolf Hasse's Mass in G Minor. This is the only music that I've heard
from this composer, but this piece was a very pleasant surprise - I did
not expect music this good from someone so obscure.
According to the liner notes of my CD of this piece, Hasse (1699-1783) was
probably the most important composer in Europe in the middle of the 18th
century. A teacher of both Mozart and Haydn, he composed over 70 operas
and a "vast output of intermezzi, cantatas, oratorios, chuch music, and
instrumental works". He was regarded as the chief musical exponent of
opera seria, and fell into obscurity when that form declined.
This Mass was composed in Hasse's 84th year and was his final composition.
One striking aspect is the vitality and energy that it displays - this is
no valedictorian farewell. It's not at all gloomy or somber but OTOH not
inappropriately glib. And the music is feast of vocal delights: choral
fugues, duets, quartets, chorales, solos, etc. The orchestra has a very
active role, also, with particularly prominent winds. This piece will
have to pass the test of time before I would consider it a masterpiece, but
after a half dozen or so hearings it is a candidate for such a designation,
comparing favorably with Mozart's and Haydn's best.
My recording is Berlin Classics BC1006-2 with Ludwig Guttler conducting
the Virtuosi Saxoniae. Soloists are Dagmar Schellenberger (Soprano),
Axel Kohler ("Altus"), Ralph Eschrig (Tenor), and Egbert Junghanns
(Bass). Kohler sounds like a male mezzo, which was a first time listening
experience for me. At first he sounded almost parodistic but my ears soon
adapted to his singing. I'm quite happy overall with all performers and
performances. I checked to see if this CD was still in print, and it
appears to be, and I also noticed that Berkshire has it for something like
$6.99.
Any comments on this or other pieces by Hasse are welcome!
Tim Dickinson, TDWARE
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http://www.tdware.com/
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