Hieronymus Albrecht Hass
Encyclopedia
Hieronymus Albrecht Hass (variants Haas, Hasse, Hase, Hasch) (1 December 1689 - 19 June 1752) (dates of baptism and burial) was a German
harpsichord
and clavichord
maker. He was the father of Johann Adolph Hass
, who also made harpsichords and clavichords.
citizenship on 2 October 1711, and was born and died there. In 1713 he was described as Instrumentenmacher and Clavirmacher on his son's birth certificate. The latest known instruments by him are two unfretted clavichords, dated 1744; a Clavicimbel for Duke Friedrich Carl von Plön was delivered the same year.
The first recorded reference to his family was in 1758, when Adlung described 'Hasse in Hamburg' as the maker of a cembal d’amour. Later, in 1773, English music historian Charles Burney
noted 'Hasse, father and son, both dead' as German organ builders, and that 'their Flügel and Claviere are much sought after'.
wrote that 'only one has what could be regarded as a normal disposition'. Their surviving harpsichords show an attempt to develop the instrument in a number of ways: one from 1721 is 2.58 m long and one from 1723 has the unusual disposition
8' 8' 8' 4'. Hass occasionally used a 16' set of strings (an octave below standard 8' pitch) and a 2' set (2 octaves higher than 8' pitch) for part of the keyboard.
The instrument shown above, which is nine feet long, illustrates the way in which Hass included the 16-foot stop in his instruments. The 16-foot bridge is seen closest to the bentside, on a separate, slightly raised section of soundboard. To its left are (in succession) the 8-foot hitchpin rail (resting on an internal bentside, not visible), the 8-foot bridge, and the 4-foot bridge.
Hass was the maker of the largest known harpsichord to have been made before the 20th century: built in 1740, it has three manuals with couplers, five sets of strings (16' 8' 8' 4' 2'), six rows of jacks, a lute stop and harp stop for the 16'. This instrument is now apparently owned by Rafael Puyana
has since been copied by Robert Goble
& Son and used by Trevor Pinnock
in Poulenc
's Concert champêtre
.
wrote of Hass and his son that the 'extent and quality of their surviving work must place them first in German instrument making'. Frank Hubbard (1965, 191) held a very mixed view: "The Hass instruments, superb technical achievements, strike us as the grotesque result of the barbarous imposition of tonal concepts appropriate to the organ
on the unresisting but equally unresponsive harpsichord."
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
and clavichord
Clavichord
The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was widely used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The clavichord produces...
maker. He was the father of Johann Adolph Hass
Johann Adolph Hass
Johann Adolph Rudolph Hass was a German clavichord and harpsichord maker, the son of Hieronymus Albrecht Hass, who was also a clavier maker...
, who also made harpsichords and clavichords.
Life
He received HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
citizenship on 2 October 1711, and was born and died there. In 1713 he was described as Instrumentenmacher and Clavirmacher on his son's birth certificate. The latest known instruments by him are two unfretted clavichords, dated 1744; a Clavicimbel for Duke Friedrich Carl von Plön was delivered the same year.
The first recorded reference to his family was in 1758, when Adlung described 'Hasse in Hamburg' as the maker of a cembal d’amour. Later, in 1773, English music historian Charles Burney
Charles Burney
Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of authors Frances Burney and Sarah Burney.-Life and career:...
noted 'Hasse, father and son, both dead' as German organ builders, and that 'their Flügel and Claviere are much sought after'.
Instruments
Of their instruments, Frank HubbardFrank Hubbard
Frank Twombly Hubbard was an American harpsichord maker, a pioneer in the revival of historical methods of harpsichord building.-Student days:...
wrote that 'only one has what could be regarded as a normal disposition'. Their surviving harpsichords show an attempt to develop the instrument in a number of ways: one from 1721 is 2.58 m long and one from 1723 has the unusual disposition
Disposition (harpsichord)
The disposition of a harpsichord is the set of choirs of strings it contains. This article describes various dispositions and gives the standard notation for describing them....
8' 8' 8' 4'. Hass occasionally used a 16' set of strings (an octave below standard 8' pitch) and a 2' set (2 octaves higher than 8' pitch) for part of the keyboard.
The instrument shown above, which is nine feet long, illustrates the way in which Hass included the 16-foot stop in his instruments. The 16-foot bridge is seen closest to the bentside, on a separate, slightly raised section of soundboard. To its left are (in succession) the 8-foot hitchpin rail (resting on an internal bentside, not visible), the 8-foot bridge, and the 4-foot bridge.
Hass was the maker of the largest known harpsichord to have been made before the 20th century: built in 1740, it has three manuals with couplers, five sets of strings (16' 8' 8' 4' 2'), six rows of jacks, a lute stop and harp stop for the 16'. This instrument is now apparently owned by Rafael Puyana
Rafael Puyana
Rafael Puyana Michelsen is a Colombian harpsichordist.Puyana began piano lessons at age 6 with his aunt and at age 13 made his debut at the Teatro Colón in Bogotá. When he was 16, he went to Boston to continue his piano studies at the New England Conservatory...
has since been copied by Robert Goble
Robert Goble
Robert Goble was an English harpsichord builder.The son of Harriet and John Goble, a wheelwright, he grew up in Thursley, Surrey. He first encountered pioneering early-instrument-maker Arnold Dolmetsch and his family in the autumn of 1917, when they took refuge from London air raids by renting a...
& Son and used by Trevor Pinnock
Trevor Pinnock
Trevor David Pinnock CBE is an English conductor, harpsichordist, and occasional organist and pianist.He is best known for his association with the period-performance orchestra The English Concert which he helped found and directed from the keyboard for over 30 years in baroque and early classical...
in Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
's Concert champêtre
Concert champêtre
Concert champêtre is a harpsichord concerto by Francis Poulenc, which also exists in a version for piano solo with very slight changes in the solo part....
.
Assessment
Raymond RussellRaymond Russell
Raymond Russell is a Scottish professional golfer.Russell turned professional in 1993 and won a European Tour card at the 1995 Qualifying School. His only European Tour win came in his 1996 rookie season at the Air France Cannes Open. 1996 and 1997 were his two best seasons, with 14th and 16th...
wrote of Hass and his son that the 'extent and quality of their surviving work must place them first in German instrument making'. Frank Hubbard (1965, 191) held a very mixed view: "The Hass instruments, superb technical achievements, strike us as the grotesque result of the barbarous imposition of tonal concepts appropriate to the organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
on the unresisting but equally unresponsive harpsichord."