Nikolaus Hasse

Nikolaus was the organist at the Marienkirche in Rostock from 1642 until 1671 when he retired. Chamber music, sacred songs and organ music were the genres in which he composed. "Delitiae musicae" holds all of his chamber music including suites intended for study by the students of Rostock University. Heinrich Muller edited the "Geistliche Seelen-Musik" for which Hasse contributed some melodies. The surviving organ works which Hasse composed are illustrative of the north German style. Hasse employed the use of ornamentation in a number of major works including his "Jesus Christus unser Heiland," "Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr," and "Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott." Embellishments were used differently in each piece. In the former, Hasse used the ornamentation in the manuals and the pedals. In the second the dominant decoration is found in the soprano and in the latter, the ornamentation is still found in the soprano but all the other voices as well, the exception being the pedals. Stylistically and aesthetically Hasse was able to give a unity to his compositions through counterpoint and the interrelationship he developed via his motifs. ~ Keith Johnson