Xylorimba

Xylorimba

The xylorimba (sometimes referred to as xylo-marimba or marimba-xylophone) 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 resonators" (Blades and Holland n.d.).

The usual playing range of a modern xylorimba is five octaves: 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 clefs.[citation needed]

"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.[citation needed]

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).[citation needed] 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):

References

  • Blades, James, and James Holland. n.d. "Xylorimba [xylo-marimba, marimba-xylophone]". Grove Music Online, edited by Deane Root. Oxford Music Online. (Accessed 5 February 2011).

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • XYLORIMBA — Instrument à percussion, à clavier, appelé aussi xylomarimba. C’est en effet une variété de marimba particulièrement adaptée à la musique de jazz. Il a été introduit dans l’orchestre symphonique contemporain. On rencontre des xylorimbas de… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • xylorimba — noun A pitched percussion instrument corresponding to a xylophone with an extended range …   Wiktionary

  • xylorimba — англ амер. [ксилори/мба] ксилоримба (разновидность ксилофона) …   Словарь иностранных музыкальных терминов

  • xylorimba — xylorimˈba noun An extended xylophone combining the ranges of the xylophone and the marimba • • • Main Entry: ↑xylo …   Useful english dictionary

  • Le marteau sans maître — ( The hammer without master ) 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.MovementsThe work has nine movements,… …   Wikipedia

  • Messiaen — Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (* 10. Dezember 1908 in Avignon; † 27. April 1992 in Paris) war ein französischer Komponist, Kompositionslehrer und Organist. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 1.1 Kindheit 1.2 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Olivier Messiaen — (1930) Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (* 10. Dezember 1908 in Avignon; † 27. April 1992 in Clichy, Hauts de Seine) war ein französischer Komponist, Kompositionslehrer und Organist …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Olivier Messiaen — in 1946 Olivier Messiaen (French pronunciation: [ɔlivje mɛsjɑ̃]; December 10, 1908 – Apri …   Wikipedia

  • Marimba — This article is about the musical instrument. For other uses, see Marimba (disambiguation). Marimba Marimba, model Antonko AMC 12 Classification Percussion instrument (Idiophone) …   Wikipedia

  • List of compositions by Olivier Messiaen — Musical compositions by Olivier Messiaen. Published during his lifetime * Le banquet céleste , organ (1928, a recomposition of a section from his unpublished orchestral piece Le banquet eucharistique [Hill Simeone (2005), p. 25] ) * Préludes ,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”