It has been said of Johann Adolf Hasse that few composers have been as famous in their time as Hasse, and yet as quickly forgotten. In Italy he had been called the ‘Padre della musica’, yet upon his death only one musical work was written in his honour by J.A Hiller, a friend of Hasse. So what happened to one of the most successful opera composers of the 18th century after Handel and Gluck, to bring about such a fall from favour? A composer who knew Frederick the Great and performed with the monarch? First, he simply became out of date after a very long career, and secondly, he lost his considerable wealth due to the collapse of the Venetian financial system in the early 1780s. He died in Venice aged 84, his funeral attended by his daughter and a few others. His gravestone wasn’t erected until 1820 – a sad story indeed.

Hasse, J A: Chieggio ai gigli ed alle rose, per soprano e basso continuo
Hasse, J A: Come l’ape di fiore in fiore per soprano, due violini e basso continuo
Hasse, J A: È ver, mia Fille, è vero per contralto, due violini, viola e basso continuo
Hasse, J A: Il nome (Scrivo in te l’amato nome), per contralto, flauto e basso continuo
Hasse, J A: Muta è l’imago dell’idolo amato per soprano, due violini e basso continuo
Hasse, J A: Sì, vezzosetti rai
Hasse, J A: Sonata a tre in mi minore Op. 3, No. 2 per due flauti e basso continuo
Hasse, J A: Sonata a tre in re maggiore Op. 3, No. 3 per due flauti e basso continuo