A CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW OF WESTERN MUSIC HISTORY IN THE CONTEXT OF WORLD EVENTS

Johann Adolf Hasse

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February 5, 1753: Solimano, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (53) to words of Migliavacca, is performed for the first time, at the Dresden Court Opera. The gigantic production includes mobs of people along with many farm and circus animals.
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October 7, 1753: Johann Adolf Hasse’s (54) opera L’eroe cinese, to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at the Hubertusburg Court.
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February 6, 1754: Artemisia, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (54) to words of Migliavacca, is performed for the first time, at the Dresden Court Opera.
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October 7, 1755: Il rè pastore, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (56) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at the Hubertusburg Court.
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February 16, 1756: L’Olimpiade, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (56) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Dresden Court Opera.
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July 31, 1756: Elector Friedrich August II of Saxony grants Urheberrecht (copyright protection) to Johann Adolf Hasse (57).
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December 20, 1756: Given the flight of the Saxon court from Dresden and its current residence in Warsaw, the Oberkapellmeister of the court, Johann Adolf Hasse (57) departs Dresden for Venice and later Naples. Friedrich the Great will order Franz Benda and Johann Joachim Quantz (59) to Dresden.
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January 4, 1758: La Nitteti rinvenuta, an opera by Johann Adolph Hasse (58) to words of Metstasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Benedetto, Venice.
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November 4, 1759: Achille in Sciro, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (60) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples. The opera is hampered by a cast which is not up to the demands of the music.
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May 13, 1760: Dove, amata germana, dove corri si lieta?, a cantata by Johann Adolf Hasse (61) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Vienna. It features two solo parts performed by Archduchess Maria Carolina, age 8 and Archduchess Maria Antonia, age 5, to celebrate the birthday of their mother, Empress Maria Theresia.
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June 19, 1760: The Prussian bombardment of Dresden destroys the complete edition of the works of Johann Adolf Hasse (61) being prepared by Firma Breitkopf.
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October 8, 1760: Alcide al bivio, a festa teatrale by Johann Adolf Hasse (61) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna, to celebrate the wedding of Crown Prince Joseph to Princess Isabella of Parma.
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December 8, 1760: Johann Adolf Hasse’s (61) cantata Apprendesti, o germana to words of Metastasio is performed for the first time, at the Royal Court, Vienna. Like the cantata of 13 May, this features two solo parts performed by the young royal children, Archduchesses Maria Carolina and Maria Antonia. It celebrates the birthday of their father, Emperor Franz I.
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October 7, 1761: Zenobia, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (62) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Imperial Theatre, Warsaw.
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April 27, 1762: Il trionfo di Clelia, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (63) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna. It celebrates the birth of a daughter to Archduke Joseph of Austria and Isabella of Parma.
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October 7, 1763: Two days after succeeding his father as Elector of Saxony, Friedrich Christian sacks Johann Adolph Hasse (64) from the Dresden court.
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November 22, 1763: A Requiem in C by Johann Adolf Hasse (64) is performed for the first time, for Elector Friedrich August, in Dresden.
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December 26, 1763: L’Issipile, a pasticcio with music by several composers including Domenico Scarlatti (†6), Johann Adolf Hasse (64), Baldassare Galuppi (57), Tommaso Traetta (36), and Johann Christian Bach (28), is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
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February 20, 1764: Johann Adolf Hasse (64) leaves Dresden. He returned to the city ten months ago to find the court’s sacred music library, his home and the opera house destroyed by the Prussians.
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April 24, 1764: Egeria, a festa teatrale by Johann Adolf Hasse (65) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at the Vienna court. It is part of the celebrations surrounding the April 3 coronation of Crown Prince Joseph.
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August 6, 1765: Romolo ed Ersilia, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (66) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Imperial Palace, Innsbruck, to celebrate the wedding of Archduke Leopold to the Bourbon Maria Luisa of Spain. The work does not please. This opera contains ballet music by Florian Leopold Gassmann (36), presumably the Ballo dell’opera di Romolo.
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September 9, 1767: Partenope, a festa teatrale by Johann Adolf Hasse (68) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna, as part of celebrations surrounding the betrothal of Archduchess Maria Josepha to King Ferdinando IV of Naples.
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September 30, 1769: Johann Adolf Hasse (70) writes to a friend from Vienna: “I have made the acquaintance here of a certain Mr. Mozard (sic)...a man of spirit, astute, experienced; and I think he well knows his way in the world of music...He has a daughter and a son. The former plays the harpsichord very well and the latter, who can’t be more than twelve or thirteen, even at that age composes...I’ve seen compositions which appear to be his, and certainly they are not bad and not as I would expect to find in a boy of twelve...Certainly he will become a prodigy if as he grows older he continues to make the necessary progress.”
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January 20, 1770: Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (13) Mozart witness a production of La Clemenza di Tito by Johann Adolf Hasse (70) in Cremona.
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August 31, 1771: Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart meet Johann Adolf Hasse (72) in Milan.
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October 16, 1771: Il Ruggiero ovvero L’eroica gratitudine, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (72) to words of Metastasio after Ariosto, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan. Among the audience are two visitors named Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart.
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October 17, 1771: Ascanio in Alba K.111, a festa teatrale by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (15) to words of Parini, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan, to celebrate the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and Maria Ricciarda Berenice of Modena. Leopold Mozart (51) reports that it is “an extraordinary success” overshadowing the work by Hasse (72) performed last night.
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November 8, 1771: Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart dine together with Johann Adolf Hasse (72) at the home of Count Carl Joseph Firmian, Governor-General of Austrian Lombardy in Milan. Last month, both Hasse and Mozart produced operas in Milan to celebrate the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand with Maria Ricciarda Berenice.
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November 27, 1771: Johann Adolph Hasse (72) and his daughter reach Vienna from Naples. Tomorrow he will have an audience with Empress Maria Theresia.
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September 20, 1782: Johann Adolph Hasse (83) makes out his will in Vienna.
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December 16, 1783: Johann Adolf Hasse dies in Venice, Republic of Venice, 84 years, eight months, and 21 days after his baptism. After a long and illustrious career in opera and sacred music, his burial in the Church of San Marcuola, Venice, will be attended by only a few family members.
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January 21, 1786: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (71) writes to Johann Joachim Eschenburg about Charles Burney’s Handel (†26) Commemoration, which Eschenburg sent to him. He disagrees with many assertions by Burney and finds Handel wanting in comparison to Johann Adolf Hasse (†2), Carl Heinrich Graun (†26), Reihard Keiser (†46) and his father, Johann Sebastian Bach (†36). He also reports to Eschenburg that “I recently burned a ream and more of old works of mine and am glad that they are no more.” (Wolff, CPE Bach, 214)