Obsessions From The Twittersphere and Confessions From The Blogosphere
Karen Siegel
About this work:
In the few years since the premiere of Confessions from the Blogosphere, online communication has blossomed and diversified. The arrival of Twitter was both powerful and ridiculous. The same tool is used to spread political movements and to inform the world what one had for breakfast, in brief spurts of 140 characters or less. Focusing on the ridiculous, Obsessions from the Twittersphere mocks the mass-distribution of the meaningless. Tweets about obsessions from strange to harmless are patched together in an unfolding dialogue between strangers.
Confessions from the Blogosphere is inspired by the comparatively old-fashioned realm of the online blog. Like a tweet, a blog post is inherently public. Unlike the twittersphere, however, the blogosphere often has an association with intimacy. Created in an intimate, comfortable space (at home, alone with one's computer), it frequently contains highly personal thoughts once relegated to the old-fashioned diary. As I started reading blog entries that ranged from the banal to the bizarre, I was captivated by a unique kind of confession motivated more by humor than by guilt. The text to Confessions from the Blogosphere is composed entirely of quotes from these blogs. The quotes overlap and compete for attention, reflecting the context of fast-paced internet surfing in which they are read.
The two works are companion pieces meant to be performed together. Confessions from the Blogosphere may be performed alone. For the full score, please contact Karen Siegel at chestnutoak@gmail.com.
Year composed: 2009
Duration: 00:09:00
Ensemble type: Chorus, with or without Solo Voices:Chorus, Unaccompanied
Instrumentation: 1 S, 1 A, 1 T, 1 B
Instrumentation notes: This is an SATB choral piece. Please excuse the appearance that it is a solo quartet; that is due to the online form requiring a number. There is no requirement for a specific number of singers on each voice part.