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Hans Leo Haßler (baptized October 26, 1564 – d. Events 740 - An Earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death June 8, 1612) was a German composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Events 68 - The Roman Senate accepts emperor Galba. 536 - St Silverius becomes Pope (probable The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 - 1600 Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. He was born in Nuremberg and died in Frankfurt am Main.

Contents

Biography

Hans Leo Hassler, born in Nuremberg and baptized October 26, 1564, was the son of an organist, and received his first instruction in music from his father. [1] In 1584, Hassler became the first of many German composers of the time who went to Italy to continue their studies; he arrived in Venice during the peak of activity of the Venetian school, the composers who wrote in the resplendent polychoral style, which was soon to become popular outside of its native city. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the In music history the Venetian School is a term used to describe the Composers working in Venice from about 1550 to around 1610; it also describes The Venetian polychoral style was a type of music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras which involved spatially separate Choirs singing in alternation Hassler was already familiar with some of this music, as numerous prints had circulated in Germany due to the interest of Leonhard Lechner, who was associated with Orlandus Lassus in Munich. Leon(hard Lechner (c 1553 Tyrol - 1606 Stuttgart was a German composer and music editor who worked with Orlando de Lassus. Orlande de Lassus (also Orlandus Lassus, Orlando di Lasso, Roland de Lassus, or Roland Delattre) (1532 (possibly 1530 &ndash June

While in Venice, Hassler became friends with Giovanni Gabrieli, with whom he composed a wedding motet for Georg Gruber, a Nuremberg merchant living in Venice, in 1600. Giovanni Gabrieli (c 1554/1557 &ndash August 12 1612 was an Italian Composer and organist. Together they studied with Andrea Gabrieli, Giovanni's uncle. Andrea Gabrieli (1532/1533? – August 30, 1585) was an Italian Composer and Organist of the late Renaissance. Under Andrea, Hassler received instruction in composition and organ playing. [2]

Following Andrea Gabrieli's death, Hassler returned to Germany in the latter part of 1585, moving to Augsburg where he served as an organist to Octavian II Fugger, a nobleman there. Augsburg is an independent City in the south-west of Bavaria. The Fugger (ˈfʊgɐ family was a historically prominent group of European Bankers members of the fifteenth and Sixteenth-century mercantile The Augsburg years were extremely creative for him; in addition he became well-known as a composer and organist at this time, though his influence was limited because he was a Protestant in an area which was still heavily Catholic. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation.

Hassler was not only a composer, but also an active organist and a consultant to organ builders. In 1596, Hassler, along with 53 other organists, was given the opportunity to examine a new instrument with 59 stops at the Schlosskirche, Groningen. Hassler was continually recognized for his expertise in organ design, and was often called upon as the examiner of new instruments. Using his extensive organ background, Hassler stepped into the world of mechanical instrument construction and developed a clockwork organ that was later sold to Emperor Rudolf II. [3]

In 1602, Hassler returned to Nuremberg where he became the Kappelmeister, or director of town music. While there, he was appointed 'Kaiserlichen Hofdiener' in the court of Rudolf II. In 1604, he took a leave of absence and traveled to Ulm, where he was wed to Cordula Claus. [4] Four years later, Hassler moved to Dresden where he served as the electoral chamber organist to the Elector Christian II of Saxony, and eventually as Kappelmeister. Dresden (etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest, Drježdźany is the Capital city of the German By this time, Hassler had already developed the tuberculosis that would claim his life in June of 1612. After he died, Michael Praetorius and Heinrich Schütz were appointed in his place. Michael Praetorius (probably February 15 1571 &ndash February 15 1621 was a German Composer, organist, and writer about Music. Heinrich Schütz (October 8 ( JC) 1585 Köstritz - November 6 1672 Dresden) was a German Composer and organist, generally regarded

Style

Hassler was one of the first to bring the innovations of the Venetian style across the Alps. Through his songs, “in the manner of foreign madrigal and canzonets,” and the Lustgarten, Hassler brought to Germany the villanelle, canzonette, and dance songs of Gastoldi and Vecchi. As the first great German composer to undertake an “Italian Journey,” Hassler’s influence was one of the reasons for the Italian domination over German music and for the common trend of German musicians finishing their education in Italy. [5] While musicians of the stature of Lassus had been working in Germany for years, they represented the older school, the prima pratica, the fully developed and refined Renaissance style of polyphony; in Italy new trends were emerging which were to define what was later called the Baroque era. Prima pratica, literally "first practice" refers to early Baroque music which looks more to the style of Palestrina, or the style codified by In Music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent Melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( Monophony Musicians such as Hassler, and later Schütz, carried the concertato style, the polychoral idea, and the freely emotional expression of the Venetians into the German culture, creating the first and most important Baroque development outside of Italy. Concertato is a term in early Baroque music referring to either a genre or a style of music in which groups of instruments or voices share a melody usually

Though Hassler was Protestant, he wrote many masses and directed the music for Catholic services in Augsberg. [6] While in the service of Octavian Fugger, Hassler dedicated both his Cantiones sacrae and a book of masses for four to eight voices to him. Due to the demands of the Catholic patrons, and his own Protestant beliefs, Hassler’s compositions represented a skillful blend of both religions’ music styles that allowed his compositions to function in both contexts. [7] Thus, many of Hassler's works could be used both in the Roman Catholic church and the Lutheran. Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther During his time in Augsberg, Hassler only produced two works that were specifically meant for the Lutheran church. Under the commission of the free city of Nuremberg, the Psalmen simpliciter was composed in 1608, and was dedicated to the city. Hassler also produced the Psalmen und christliche Gesange, mit vier Stimmen auf die Melodeien fugweis komponiert in 1607 and dedicated it to Elector Christian II of Saxony. [8] Stylistically, Hassler’s early works exhibit reflections of the influence of Lassus, while his later works are marked by the impressions left on him by his studies in Italy. After returning from Italy, Hassler incorporated polychoral techniques, textural contrasts and occasional chromaticism in his compositions. This article is about the musical term See Antiphon (person the orator of ancient Greece In Music, chromaticism is a Compositional technique interspersing the primary Diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the Chromatic His later masses were characterized by light melodies juxtaposed with the grace and fluidity of the madrigalian dance songs; thus creating a charming sacred style that was more sonorous than it was profound. [9] His secular music—madrigals, canzonette, and songs among the vocal, and ricercars, canzonas, introits and toccatas among the instrumental—show many of the advanced techniques of the Gabrielis in Italy, but with a somewhat more restrained character, and always attentive to craftsmanship and beauty of sound. A madrigal is a type of Secular vocal music composition written during the Renaissance and early Baroque eras In music a canzonetta (pl canzonette, canzonetti or canzonettas) was a popular Italian secular vocal composition which originated around 1560 A ricercar (or ricercare recercar; the terms are interchangeable is a type of late Renaissance and mostly early Baroque instrumental composition In music a canzona (also Canzone) was a 16th-century multipart vocal setting of a literary canzone and a 16th - and 17th-century instrumental The Introit ( Latin: introitus, "entrance" is part of the opening of the celebration of the Roman Catholic Mass and the Lutheran Toccata (from Italian toccare, "to touch" is a Virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or Plucked string instrument However, Hassler's greatest success in combining the German and Italian compositional styles existed in his lieder. [10] In 1590, Hassler released his first publication, a set of twenty-four, four-part canzonette. The Lustgarten neuer teutscher Gesang, Balletti Galliarden und Intraden, which contains thirty-nine vocal and eleven instrumental pieces, is Hassler’s most renowned collection of lieder. Within this work, Hassler published dance collections for four, five, or six string or wind instruments with voice and without continuo. [11] He also composed Mein gmuth ist mir verwirret, a five-part piece that was later combined with the text of Paul Gerhardt (O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden) and used by Bach in his St. Matthew Passion. [12]

Along with many of his contemporaries, Hassler sought to blend the Italian virtuoso style with the traditional style prevalent in Germany. This was accomplished in the chorale motet by employing the thorough bass continuo and including instrumental and solo ornamentation. [13] Hassler’s motets exhibit this blend of the old and the new in the way they reflect both the influence of Lassus and the two four-part chorus style of the Gabrielis. [14]

Hassler is considered to be one of the most important German composers of all time. [15] His use of the innovative Italian techniques, coupled with traditional, conservative German techniques allowed his compositions to be fresh without the modern affective tone. [16] His songs presented a combined vocal and instrumental literature that did not make use of the continuo, or only provided it as an option,[17] and his sacred music introduced the Italian polychoral structures that would later influence many composers leading into the Baroque era.

Works

External links


Citations

  1. ^ Grove 2000 p. 119.
  2. ^ Grove 2000, p. 120.
  3. ^ Grove 2000, p. 120.
  4. ^ Grove 2000, p. 120.
  5. ^ Bukofzer 1947, p. 83.
  6. ^ Reese 1959, p. 687.
  7. ^ Fisher 2004, p. 158.
  8. ^ Blume 1974, p. 158.
  9. ^ Reese 1959, p. 688.
  10. ^ Reese 1959, p. 711.
  11. ^ Bukofzer 1947, p. 112.
  12. ^ Reese 1959, p. 711.
  13. ^ Sargent 1963, p. 43.
  14. ^ Sargent 1963, p. 27.
  15. ^ Reese 1959, p. 687.
  16. ^ Bukofzer 1947, p. 98.
  17. ^ Bukofzer 1947, p. 98.
  18. ^ Reese 1959, p. 711.
  19. ^ Reese 1959, p. 711.
  20. ^ Blume 1957, p. 158.
  21. ^ Blume 1957, p. 158.

References

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