Hannah Lash‘s name began appearing on my radar about two years ago but this is my first actual encounter with her music.  This recent (2011) Harvard graduate’s star seems to be rising quickly and this is a fine place as any to start to get to know her work.  New Focus Recordings is a label with good instincts regarding new and important music and this one is typical of their collective acumen.

This release features 4 works. One is for harp (Lash’s instrument) with string quartet and the rest are for string quartet alone. I find it difficult to describe Lash’s work concisely. Like many in her generation she seems to have been exposed most comprehensively to a huge range of styles and techniques and she appears to be selecting judiciously among those to apply those techniques by which she can achieve her compositional goals.

The works include the single movement, Frayed followed by Suite: Remembered and Imagined (in 6 short movements), the single movement Pulse-Space, and the three movement Filigree in Textile which features Lash on harp along with the Jack Quartet.  The rather sparse liner notes are by the composer.  They may lack detail as to composition date, commissioner, etc. but they do reflect what the composer’s thought processes were with each piece.  She is clearly more concerned with conveying her metaphorical ideas than the technical aspects of her work.  That is perhaps best left to future musicologists.

Her work is direct, one might even say concise.  Using a basically tonal palette, the composer explores a variety of musical and metamusical ideas.  These are intimate and interesting works that seem very much to the point.  Keep in mind too that this is simply a disc of recent chamber music which gives no idea as to how she handles larger forms.  But from the perspective of this album alone her brevity has an almost Webernian quality (not the thorny harmonies or difficult rhythms, just the brief and direct statements she makes with the music here).

The always wonderful Jack Quartet plays in two different configurations here.  Tracks 1-8 feature Christopher Otto and Ari Streisfeld, violins; John Pickford Richards, viola; and Kevin McFarland, cello.  Tracks 9-11 feature: Austin Wullman and Christopher Otto, violins; John Pickford Richards, viola; Jay Campbell, cello; and Hannah Lash, harp.

As usual with well written new music multiple listens reveal more detail.  The music is both interesting at first listen as well as compelling enough to provoke yet another listen.  Lash is a rising star who deserves the attention of a new music audience who will learn the subtleties of her musical language.  There is great beauty here.