Karl Haas

Karl Wilhelm Jacob Haas (27 December 1900 – 7 July 1970) was a German musician, musicologist and conductor. He was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, where he studied at the Classical College, then at the Universities of Munich and Heidelberg.

His first work was at the Dumont Theatre in Düsseldorf; then as Music advisor for Karlsruhe and Stuttgart radio stations. He escaped Nazi persecution of Jews and settled in Britain in 1939. He worked as Music Director of Old Vic in Bristol, where he composed incidental music and stage scores.

Karl was an enthusiast of Baroque music and a player of the viola d'amore. He edited works of Cherubini, Boccherini, Dittersdorf, Handel, Haydn and others. According to Lionel Salter, when Haas founded the London Baroque Ensemble in 1941 he incorporated 'Baroque' into the name "with his impish sense of humour", and an acknowledgment that the term can also mean 'bizarre'. The ensemble's repertoire extended well beyond the Baroque period. They made a number of recordings of Handel, Bach, Boyce, Mozart and Dvorak, some produced by George Martin.

According to Basil Tschaikov, Karl Haas was a fine instrumentalist but a poor conductor. This was evidenced when playing the Richard Strauss Sonatina No 2 for the BBC on two occasions, as the second was by far the better performance. The difference was attributed to his taking a fall after the first, which left his arms in a sling.

A recording containing Dvořák's Serenade in D minor Op. 44, Mozart's Serenade No. 11 in E flat, K.375 and Serenade No. 12 in C minor, K.388/384a is available on the Testament label. Other recordings of the London Baroque Ensemble were made on the Westminster label, now part of Deutsche Grammophon, Parlophone, Decca and Pye.

He had been working on a book 300 Years of Military Music at the time of his death, 7 July 1970 in London.