Blue Amberol (2013)

For Orchestra

Duration 5'00

Program Notes

Blue Amberol is a fanfare for orchestra.  The work is inspired by Edison’s Blue Amberol, one of the first methods of recording sound.  The device could only hold four to five minutes of music.  Coincidentally the attention span of a person is four and a half minutes.  Scholars speculate that the existence of the Blue Amberol is a direct correlation to the measured attention span.

The fanfare is confined to just under five minutes, mirroring the standard attention span, while also jumping from idea to idea in quick succession as a representation of the fleeting attention span of the modern day listener.

- Chris Lamb, May 2013