In this album, social sounds, I am interested in exploring the different levels of improvisation that are present in a musical score. The works I have chosen cover a wide continuum from those that are strictly notated to those that outline different ways in which composers have included elements of improvisation for performers to interpret. I selected these works as I feel a certain kinship with them and find them beautiful in their own distinct ways. They reflect the way I have been thinking about sound and the way I experience the world in the moment. Still (2006) by Dorothy Chang is inspired by the painting Red-Black (1967) by Lawrence Calcagno, which hangs in the Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York. What I particularly like about Still and what made it immediately appealing was the way that Chang embellishes a beautiful simple melody with a variety of textures of sound that are created though the use of timbral tones and pitch bends. The broadened tonal colour spectrum enhances and adds depth to the line without ever overshadowing it. Chang's subtle manipulation of timbral texture is reminiscent of Calcagno's play with the perspective of the viewer in his painting. Throughout, the effects are evocative of the dizi-a side-blown Chinese flute-and feed into a Zen-like atmosphere. Rafales (2007) by Jrme Blais is inspired by the many different types of wind he experienced after moving to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2004. Blais uses conventional Western notation to create a framework of pitches and gestures for the performer to improvise with, as well as a mise-en-scne that includes directions for the performer's movements. Some sections are bookended with silence while others lead directly into the next. None have a strict time imposed; rather Blais leaves the balance of the formal structure up to the discretion of the performer. I approach Rafales as a sound exploration of my instrument: each performance is different, and that is the point. My process included exploring the sounds and qualities of the oboe that I am drawn to, such as the dark woodiness of the tone found in certain timbral fingerings, and how using my breath in different ways can affect the sound. As I widened my lens to include new sound possibilities, I became more comfortable and could reach further. Throughout, I thought about the possible connection between the sounds I was creating and the types of wind they could represent. In recording Rafales, I intentionally decided to include the choreography suggested by Blais. In the opening section this is particularly noticeable, as my movements toward the microphone and changes in the angle of my oboe on a held pitch are made audible by the change in the tone. One of my favourite aspects of Rafales is that there is a piano just behind the performer with the sustain pedal depressed throughout. The sympathetic resonance of the piano is also audible, feeding into an ethereal quality. In Plainsong (2004), composer Tawnie Olson draws on structural aspects of the different kinds of chant included in the Night Office, the longest and most elaborate of the eight 'hours' of prayer observed by monasteries and cathedrals in the Middle Ages (Olson, program notes in score). While in this work there is no literal quotation of plainsong, it definitely seems as if there is. The effect is emphasized towards the middle, where a change of character is reminiscent of a leader chanting a reciting tone. Throughout, Olson emphasizes the vocal nature of the English horn with the choice of register and the nature of the melodic line, which contains quick passagework evocative of improvised vocal ornamentation. The overriding effect is of monks singing a very beautiful pure line. I felt that it was appropriate to place Plainsong as the central recording on this CD as it acts as a grounding stone after the exploratory nature of Rafales. In Social sounds from whales at night (2007) by Emily Doolittle, we are invited to join in the night soundscape of the ocean. Social sounds was originally composed for soprano and tape; at my re
