hasse was born in bergedorf, near hamburg. his father and grandfather were organists. he studied in hamburg from 1714 to 1717. in 1718 he joined the hamburg state opera. he was a tenor singer. in 1719, he started working in brunswick. he performed operas written by georg schürmann, francesco conti and antonio caldara. his own opera, "antioco", was performed in brunswick in 1721. it is his only opera which is written in the german language.