HANNAH LASH harp

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“The standout piece of the evening was the premiere of Hannah

Lash’s Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra. Lash, who is a

composer and a harpist, joined the orchestra on stage to perform

as the soloist… The harp writing was particularly stunning, with

beautiful melodies and moving cadenzas permeating the piece…

After the final note resonated through the hall, Lash’s piece

received three curtain calls (and it was only intermission!).”

–Sam Reising, I Care If You Listen

short bio

press

As a soloist, harpist Hannah Lash has been presented by Carnegie Hall, the Cabrillo Festival, Miller Theatre, the Alabama

Symphony, the Yale School of Music, and the Bennington Chamber Music Conference. She recently premiered her first harp

concerto at Zankel Hall with the American Composers Orchestra under the direction of George Manahan. Lash will give the UK

premiere of the concerto with the Orchestra of the Swan under David Curtis in England in 2016.

Lash’s playing has been praised for its virtuosity,

described by critic Michael Huebner as “technical

wizardry,” as well as for her musical depth of

expression. Lash’s music has been commissioned

and performed by the LA Philharmonic, Carnegie

Hall, the LA Chamber Orchestra, Miller Theatre,

the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Cabrillo

Festival of Contemporary Music, and others.

She has received numerous honors and prizes,

from the American Academy of Arts and Letters,

the Fromm Foundation Commission, and the

Copland Foundation.

Lash will be releasing her debut CD in 2016 on

the New Focus Label. Other upcoming projects

include a concertino for harp with chamber

ensemble, commissioned by Chamber Music

Northwest. She will also be playing her music at

the NY Philharmonic Biennial concert in 2016, as

well as a faculty recital at the Yale School of Music.

Lash holds degrees from Harvard University (Ph.D),

the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Eastman

School of Music, and the Yale School of Music.

Lash currently serves full-time on the composition

faculty of the Yale School of Music.

“…at times creating a harsh and ominous dreamscape, at

other times a soft impressionistic palette. Equally impressive

was Lash’s virtuosity on her instrument, not only for her

technical wizardry of pedal shifts and arpeggios, but for

her mood shifts.”

–Michael Huebner, AL.com

P H O T O B Y R O N C O H E N M A N N

HANNAH LASH harp

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FRACTAL: UNE CHÂTELAINE EN SA TOUR

About the “Fractal” program, Hannah Lash says, “As a harpist,

I have struggled a great deal with the fact that my instrument’s

solo repertoire is limited. The harp has not yet been fortunate

enough to have a major composer advocate for it and develop and

expand its voice. I have dropped nearly all the standard solo harp

music from my own repertoire in favor of music written for piano.

But there is one piece that was written for harp which I will always

love, and that piece is Fauré’s Une Châtelaine en sa tour. I decided

that because my position in rejecting all harp music except for this

one piece is so dramatic, I wanted to compose a large-scale piece

formed by a set of ideas inspired by those ideas in Fauré’s piece.

I wanted to evoke something like a set of variations, where Une

Châtelaine en sa tour would serve as a theme, and my own varia-

tions would then grow from it.” The program is performed without

breaks.

Works to be performed on the “Fractal” program include:

Gabriel Fauré, Une Châtelaine en sa tour, Op. 110

Hannah Lash, Fractal (2015-16)

THE HARP IN COLORS

In this program, Hannah Lash explores the experience of sound

color in the music of Scriabin, through performances of both his

work and her own. Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 1 was composed

in 1892 after Scriabin had injured his right hand and was told he

would never play again. The piece has been described as his per-

sonal outcry against God at the loss of his hand. (He actually

did recover full use of the hand eventually.) Hannah Lash’s Sonata

for Harp is a large piece in four movements that plays with the

idea of sonata form in the classical sense, re-imagining it in a

non-tonal context. The piece and its “tonal” centers are largely

focused on different colors that the harp can produce, and how

these colors are integrated and also contrasted together.

Works to be included on “The Harp in Colors” program in-

clude:

Alexander Scriabin, Piano Sonata No. 1 in f minor, Op. 6

Hannah Lash, Sonata for Harp

MOSAICS

“Mosaics” is a recital which comprises pieces that are each very

short, either as stand-alone miniatures, or together as a set of

small pieces. The word “mosaic” implies many colorful frag-

ments making up an interesting whole. Lash selects these

pieces to be the tiles in her larger picture because each piece,

despite—perhaps even because of—being so small, is highly

characteristic and concentrated in its musical journey. To Lash,

composing a miniature successfully is one of the most difficult

and rewarding things a composer can do. The harp is particu-

larly suited to conveying these highly pigmented little pieces,

with its nuanced sound and endless capability for sudden,

extreme, or subtle changes in sound color.

The Brahms Intermezzi, composed in 1892, is a set of three

small lyrical pieces in E-flat, B-flat minor, and C-sharp minor

respectively. The first of these pieces takes a Scottish lullaby as

its point of departure. Schumann’s Waldszenen, composed

1848-49, is a set of charming pieces that have characteristic and

colorful titles. Composed in 1919, Fauré’s Une Châtelaine en sa

tour was inspired by a poem by Paul Verlaine of the same name,

from his collection La bonne chanson. Hannah Lash’s own

Imaginary Preludes for Harp, composed in 2015, plays with the

program offerings

P H O T O B Y R O N C O H E N M A N N

HANNAH LASH harp

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concerto offerings

musical genre of the prelude. Each works out one musical idea,

sometimes manifest as a texture. Finally, Lash’s Stalk, composed in

2008, was written after the composer had a dream where she was

trapped in a maze of white flowers. The piece uses some melodic

fragments from the song White Coral Bells and works this material

out through contrasting textures and tempi.

Works to be performed on the “Mosaics” program include:

Johannes Brahms, 3 Intermezzi, Op. 117

Robert Schumann, Waldszenen, Op. 82

Gabriel Fauré, Une Châtelaine en sa tour, Op. 110

Hannah Lash, Imaginary Preludes for Harp

Lash, Stalk

SONATAS FOR HARPThis is a program that showcases sonatas written for the harp.

The term “sonata” is sometimes very specific in the classical sense

– a three- or four-movement piece whose form in the first move-

ment (and often other movements as well) is a particular out-

growth of ternary form – and came to represent a large and

serious genre, a soloist’s analog to the orchestral symphony.

But this is not the way the sonata first was born, nor how it

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in C major, K. 299 (1778)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Danse sacreé et profane, for solo harp and string orchestra (1904)

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Introduction and Allegro for flute, clarinet harp,

and string quartet (1905)

Hannah Lash (b. 1981)

Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra (2015)

developed past the classical and romantic periods: “sonata”

could mean any number of things to a post-tonal composer.

However, what remains intact is often the multi-movement form,

and the sense of compositional ambition.

Lash offers three sonatas written for the harp from different

time periods: a three movement sonata by C.P.E Bach exempli-

fying the “sensitive style” or “Empfandsamer Stil,” featuring

intricate ornaments and contrasting musical affects. This work is

followed by a three-movement sonata by Paul Hindemith which

reflects the classical sonata form in many ways. The final piece

on the program is a large-scale new sonata in four movements

by Hannah Lash, which plays with the idea of tonal hierarchy

and classical sonata form, but introduces a high degree of

chromaticism, resulting in an ultimately mobile harmonic palette,

with a great deal of contrast between movements.

Works to be performed on the “Sonatas for Harp” program

include:

C.P.E. Bach, Sonata for Harp in G Major (1762)

Paul Hindemith, Sonata for Harp (1939)

Hannah Lash, Sonata for Harp (2015)

P H O T O B Y B O B H A N D E L M A N

HANNAH LASH harp

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HARP IN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC AS PART OF A CONTINUUM

Hannah Lash‘s philosophy in approaching new music is that it is

part of a musical continuum rather than a whole different species

of music from our standard repertoire. In practicing and rehears-

ing new music, one can adjust one’s strategy to be sensitive to

the particular challenges presented, but always from the basis of

producing a beautiful sound, maintaining a relaxed and sustainable

technique, and above all being a whole and sensitive musician.

When she teaches how to practice, rehearse, and perform new

music, she does so in the context of an approach to standard

repertoire. Students are asked to bring a piece of new music and a

piece of standard repertoire, both of which will be worked on

in juxtaposition.

PLAYING PIANO MUSIC ON THE HARP

Harpists play many transcriptions of music written for other instru-

ments, particularly piano. Hannah Lash believes that transcribing

is incredibly important, and that harpists can always push them-

selves and their instruments further than they might imagine.

When teaching transcription, she challenges students to bring in

scores they might not feel are possible to play on the harp, and

she helps them re-imagine the music to make it possible and

comfortable on the harp.

WRITING FOR HARP

This lecture demonstration is geared specifically toward com-

posers who wish to learn more about the harp and how to write

their music in a way that will work with the instrument’s unique

constraints and qualities. Hannah Lash brings in a range of ex-

amples, from standard repertoire to transcriptions to new music,

to demonstrate what the instrument is capable of and how to

exploit its strengths.

additional offerings

P H O T O B Y R O N C O H E N M A N N