Xylorimba
Encyclopedia
The xylorimba is a pitched percussion
instrument
corresponding to a xylophone
with an extended range (and not to a combination of a xylophone with a marimba
, as the name might suggest).
Like the xylophone and marimba, the xylorimba consists of a series of wooden bars laid out like a piano keyboard
"with a compass sufficiently large to embrace the low-sounding bars of the marimba and the highest-sounding bars of the xylophone.
The lower notes of the xylorimba sound like a xylophone rather than a marimba on account of the bars being thicker and narrower than those of a marimba (the bars of the xylophone and the marimba are shaped differently to emphasize different overtones) and of the different size and shape of the resonator
s" (Blades and Holland n.d.).
The usual playing range of a modern xylorimba is five octave
s: from the C one octave below middle C
to the C four octaves above middle C (C3 to C8). It is a transposing instrument
, since music for xylorimba is written an octave lower than it sounds, using a grand staff
with both bass and treble clef
s.
"As the marimba-xylophone it was a popular instrument in the 1920s and 30s, particularly in vaudeville
" (Blades and Holland n.d.).
As the xylorimba (or, less commonly, the xylo-marimba) it has been called for in a number of 20th-century classical works.
The name has been a source of confusion. Many composers have called for ‘xylorimba’, including Alban Berg
, Pierre Boulez
and Olivier Messiaen
, but written parts requiring only a four-octave xylophone (Blades and Holland n.d.) (C4 to C8, nowadays the standard range for a concert xylophone). However, Pierre Boulez wrote for two five-octave xylorimbas in Pli selon pli (Blades and Holland n.d.).
Compositions including xylorimba (four-, four-and-a-half-, and five-octave instruments):
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
instrument
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
corresponding to a xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
with an extended range (and not to a combination of a xylophone with a marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, as the name might suggest).
Like the xylophone and marimba, the xylorimba consists of a series of wooden bars laid out like a piano keyboard
Musical keyboard
A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
"with a compass sufficiently large to embrace the low-sounding bars of the marimba and the highest-sounding bars of the xylophone.
The lower notes of the xylorimba sound like a xylophone rather than a marimba on account of the bars being thicker and narrower than those of a marimba (the bars of the xylophone and the marimba are shaped differently to emphasize different overtones) and of the different size and shape of the resonator
Resonator
A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior, that is, it naturally oscillates at some frequencies, called its resonant frequencies, with greater amplitude than at others. The oscillations in a resonator can be either electromagnetic or mechanical...
s" (Blades and Holland n.d.).
The usual playing range of a modern xylorimba is five octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
s: from the C one octave below middle C
Middle C
C or Do is the first note of the fixed-Do solfège scale. Its enharmonic is B.-Middle C:Middle C is designated C4 in scientific pitch notation because of the note's position as the fourth C key on a standard 88-key piano keyboard...
to the C four octaves above middle C (C3 to C8). It is a transposing instrument
Transposing instrument
A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which written notes are read at a pitch different from the corresponding concert pitch, which a non-transposing instrument, such as a piano, would play. Playing a written C on a transposing instrument will produce a note other than concert C...
, since music for xylorimba is written an octave lower than it sounds, using a grand staff
Staff (music)
In standard Western musical notation, the staff, or stave, is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch—or, in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments. Appropriate music symbols, depending upon the intended effect,...
with both bass and treble clef
Clef
A clef is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes. Placed on one of the lines at the beginning of the staff, it indicates the name and pitch of the notes on that line. This line serves as a reference point by which the names of the notes on any other line or space of the staff...
s.
"As the marimba-xylophone it was a popular instrument in the 1920s and 30s, particularly in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
" (Blades and Holland n.d.).
As the xylorimba (or, less commonly, the xylo-marimba) it has been called for in a number of 20th-century classical works.
The name has been a source of confusion. Many composers have called for ‘xylorimba’, including Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
, Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
and Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
, but written parts requiring only a four-octave xylophone (Blades and Holland n.d.) (C4 to C8, nowadays the standard range for a concert xylophone). However, Pierre Boulez wrote for two five-octave xylorimbas in Pli selon pli (Blades and Holland n.d.).
Compositions including xylorimba (four-, four-and-a-half-, and five-octave instruments):
- Alban BergAlban BergAlban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
: Drei Stücke [Three Pieces] for orchestra (1914–15, revised 1929) - Erik BergmanErik BergmanErik Valdemar Bergman was an influential composer of classical music from Finland.Bergman's style ranged widely, from Romanticism in his early works to modernism and primitivism, among other genres...
: Hathor Suite for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus and ensemble (cor anglais, flute, harp and percussion) (1971) - Pierre BoulezPierre BoulezPierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
: Le marteau sans maîtreLe marteau sans maîtreLe marteau sans maître is a composition by the French composer Pierre Boulez. It is a setting of the surrealist poetry of René Char for alto and six instrumentalists. It was first performed in 1955.-Movements:...
for alto and six instruments (1953–55, revised 1957) - Pierre Boulez: Pli selon pliPli selon pliPli selon pli is a piece of classical music by the French composer Pierre Boulez. It is for solo soprano and orchestra, and is based on the poems of Stéphane Mallarmé...
for soprano and orchestra (1957–62) - Olivier MessiaenOlivier MessiaenOlivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
: Couleurs de la Cité Céleste for piano and chamber orchestra (1963) - Olivier Messiaen: La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-ChristLa Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-ChristLa Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ is a work written between 1965 and 1969 by Olivier Messiaen. It is based on the Jesus transfiguring on a mountain according to the report of the Synoptic Gospels. The writing is on a very large scale; the work requires around 200 performers...
for mixed choir, seven solo instruments and large orchestra (1965–69) - Olivier Messiaen: Des canyons aux étoiles... for piano solo, horn, xylorimba, glockenspiel and orchestra (1971–74)
- Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise opera (1975–83)
- Olivier Messiaen: Éclairs sur l'Au-delà…Éclairs sur l'au-delà…Éclairs sur l'au-delà… is an orchestral piece by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. Composed in 1987–91, it was his last completed work, his very last work being Concert à quatre...
for large orchestra (1988–92) - Karlheinz StockhausenKarlheinz StockhausenKarlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
: Gruppen for three orchestras [in the list of instruments for Orchestra III, but the score itself calls for a marimbaphoneMarimbaphoneThe marimbaphone is an obsolete tuned percussion instrument, developed by the Deagan company of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. in the early 20th century.The marimbaphone had shallow steel bars arranged chromatically with a tube resonator under each bar...
, as in Orchestra I]