The Corley Conspiracy
Encyclopedia
The Corley Conspiracy is an opera
by Tim Benjamin
to a libretto
by Sean Starke who also directed. The work premiered on 19 September 2007 in the Purcell Room
at the Southbank Centre in London
; the orchestral parts were played by the ensemble Radius
. The opera was commissioned by the London Design Festival
2007.
The performance of the work lasts for about 75 minutes.
Unusual for an opera, all the vocal parts are spoken, but unlike a play, the music is continuous and relates strongly to the text.
The text of the work is based on Mike Corley's experiences and theories, as shown in his Usenet posts and on his website.
Mike Corley is an Information technology
specialist residing in the United Kingdom
. He has a long history of posting Usenet messages detailing how MI5
has allegedly bugged
his home, watched him via his television and is sending people to follow him around and harass him. These messages are often crossposted to many different newsgroups. His claims of being persecuted by MI5 (the Subject: line of his posts) have led to claims that he is suffering from paranoid
schizophrenia
. He has claimed in his posts that television personalities are often talking about him in code and are part of the MI5 conspiracy. He has been banned from posting
through Google
for his abuse of Usenet and has been similarly barred from most Internet service provider
s in England.
In 2007, Tommaso Lanza and Ross Cairns designed the Corley Radio with custom-made electronics and voice recognition software, to help Mike Corley to keep track of who is talking to him — the tool that everyone who is concerned of conspiracies should have.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by Tim Benjamin
Tim Benjamin
Tim Benjamin is an English composer. Educated at Christ's Hospital school, he later studied with Anthony Gilbert at the Royal Northern College of Music, Steve Martland, and with Robert Saxton at Oxford University...
to a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Sean Starke who also directed. The work premiered on 19 September 2007 in the Purcell Room
Purcell Room
The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats....
at the Southbank Centre in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
; the orchestral parts were played by the ensemble Radius
Radius (music ensemble)
Radius is a London music ensemble founded in 2007 by the British composer Tim Benjamin. The ensemble specialises in the performance of new music from around the world written by living composers and 20th-century masters...
. The opera was commissioned by the London Design Festival
London Design Festival
The London Design Festival was established in 2003 as an annual event to celebrate and promote London as the creative capital of the world and gateway to the UK’s world class creative industries. The Festival acts as a platform for a large and diverse range of partner organisations drawn from...
2007.
Roles
| Role | Premiere cast: 21 September 2007 Conductor: John Traill |
|---|---|
| Mike Corley | Paul Tosio |
| Grace Watson | Angela Myers |
| Alex Jones | Jonatha Webb |
| Jill Scott | Hannah Grainger-Clemson |
| James Lewis | Alan Bailey |
| Voice of the Computer | Elise Emmanuelle |
| Email Protected | Arne Muus |
| Orchestra | Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin) Oliver Coates (cello) Jennifer George (flute) Charys Green (clarinet) Huw Morgan (trumpet) Tyler Vahldick (trombone) Jocelyn Lightfoot (horn) John Reid (piano) Adrian Spillett (percussion) |
| Director | Sean Starke |
| Stage manager | Arne Muus |
The performance of the work lasts for about 75 minutes.
Structure
| I | Have The British Gone Mad? | Prologue Prologue A prologue is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Greek prologos included the modern meaning of prologue, but was of wider significance... |
|
| II | BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... 's Hidden Shame |
Concerto Concerto A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words... |
Prelude Prelude (music) A prelude is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. The prelude can be thought of as a preface. It may stand on its own or introduce another work... (Adagio) Allegretto Reprise Reprise Reprise is a fundamental device in the history of art. In literature, a reprise consists of the rewriting of another work; in music, a reprise is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the... (Adagio) |
| III | Email Protected | Concerto | Recitative Recitative Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech... |
| IV | Paranoia Paranoia Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself... |
Concerto | Finale |
| V | Sulpiride Sulpiride Sulpiride is an... 200mgs |
Variations | no. 1 Passacaglia Passacaglia The passacaglia is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used by contemporary composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often, but not always, based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre.... no. 2 Chaconne Chaconne A chaconne ; is a type of musical composition popular in the baroque era when it was much used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line which offered a compositional outline for variation, decoration, figuration and... |
| VI | Censorship Censorship in the United Kingdom Censorship in the United Kingdom has a long history with variously stringent and lax laws in place at different times. Censorship of motion pictures, video games and Internet sites hosted in the United Kingdom are considered to be among the strictest in the European Union, the strictest being... |
Variations | no. 3 on an Interval Interval (music) In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads... no. 4 on a Chord Chord (music) A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords... no. 5 on a note Note In music, the term note has two primary meanings:#A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound;#A pitched sound itself.... |
| VII | The Continuing Silence | Epilogue |
Unusual for an opera, all the vocal parts are spoken, but unlike a play, the music is continuous and relates strongly to the text.
Background
Mike Corley is an Information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
specialist residing in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. He has a long history of posting Usenet messages detailing how MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
has allegedly bugged
Covert listening device
A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and in police investigations.A bug does not have to be a device...
his home, watched him via his television and is sending people to follow him around and harass him. These messages are often crossposted to many different newsgroups. His claims of being persecuted by MI5 (the Subject: line of his posts) have led to claims that he is suffering from paranoid
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
. He has claimed in his posts that television personalities are often talking about him in code and are part of the MI5 conspiracy. He has been banned from posting
Google Groups
Google Groups is a service from Google Inc. that supports discussion groups, including many Usenet newsgroups, based on common interests. The service was started in 1995 as Deja News, and was transitioned to Google Groups after a February 2001 buyout....
through Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
for his abuse of Usenet and has been similarly barred from most Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s in England.
In 2007, Tommaso Lanza and Ross Cairns designed the Corley Radio with custom-made electronics and voice recognition software, to help Mike Corley to keep track of who is talking to him — the tool that everyone who is concerned of conspiracies should have.
External links
- Official website Review of the work