by Joy Houston
Once upon a time long, long ago a little bird named tz’ak
(carpenter bird) flew onto a branch of an hormigo tree, which grows only in
Guatemala. Tz’ak pecked at the branch, hoping to enjoy a yummy snack of ants.
There were usually a lot of them on the hormigo tree, because they liked the
sweet flavor of its wood. But the branch had been dried and darkened by a forest
fire, and there were no ants. Instead, a musical sound came when tz’ak pecked.
He pecked and pecked in different places, and each place he pecked produced a
different melodic tone.
A woodcutter passing by saw tz’ak and heard the beautiful music
that came from the tree. He ran to tell a soothsayer what he had seen and heard
and asked, "Whatever can this mean?" The wise man listened carefully to the
phenomenon and then spoke: "You are indeed a fortunate man. You have been
divinely called to be a music maker. You must first carry out the rites of
thanks to God, burning candles at the foot of the tree, which is sacred because
it produces the voice of the gods. Then go and spend your life building musical
instruments from the tree."
So he did, and since then hormigo trees have provided the wood
for the keys of the marimba. The trees must be cut with wisdom, care and
passion, after invoking the permission and blessing of the gods, and under the
moonlight in the quiet of night, when no disturbing surrounding sounds will be
carried in the wood. The woodcutter’s family developed the marimba in the
northeastern part of Guatemala, which became the major location for the
industry.
Traditional marimba in the Fiesta Titular de Chichicastenango, c.1920 (José Luis Legrand, Fototeca Guatemala, CIRMA)
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Surprise, surprise, not everyone accepts this legend. The
origin of the marimba has been hotly disputed, and volumes have been written
defending positions of those who want to claim the marimba as their own. Among
the exotic places of origin that have been suggested
are Mozambique or Madagascar, South Vietnam, Polynesia, the French Antilles or
Java, Siam, the lost Atlantis or the Amazon. Some say the marimba was known by
the Egyptians, Assyrians and Greeks. The instrument may have had eastern
origins, where similar instruments are still played, made its way west to and
across the African continent to the Congo and Angola and then to the New World,
where it was copied, either the actual instrument or the memory of it hidden in
the minds of African slaves.
But doesn’t it seem feasible that peoples of
similar environments and climates could have discovered somewhat simultaneously
similar ways of making music with natural elements?
The date of origin is
likewise intensely debated. The first reference may be in the Mayan
Popul-Vuh, written centuries before
Christ. Also, drawings etched on a wall of Mahler Temple at Tikal (700-800 A.D.)
show a man with wooden tablets hanging from his arm, which he apparently strikes
with a mallet held in the opposite hand. Forerunner of the marimba, in Guatemala
long before the Spaniards or the Africans?
Here linguistics enter the
controversy, with varied opinions of just what the first marimba was called, in
what language and whether or not the word refers to an early form of marimba.
Some would say the name has Mayan roots, others that it came from one or another
of the African tribal tongues, of which there are some 500. Some suggest that
the marimba was a primitive form of drum in Africa, to which another would say,
"That could only come from someone who could not distinguish between a
rhinoceros and a giraffe." One wonders whether even the wise Russian rabbi in
Fiddler on the Roof could solve
these debates.
The strongest piece of archeological evidence
to back the claim that the marimba
originated in Guatemala is a ceramic vase
discovered in Ratinlinxul, Cobán, possibly
dating from 1,000 A.D. It shows a man carrying
what appears to be a marimba on his
back. The vase, considered in Guatemala to
have been ‘stolen,’ was found by Canadian
archeologist Marta Pilón and has been exhibited
at the University of Pennsylvania
since 1924.
Researcher Curt Sachs (1939) suggests
that the first marimba was played by
women on the Isle of Madagascar. They sat
with legs stretched out, the big toes holding
taut cords on which tablets of wood were
strung. Later the instrument was hung
from the neck and became portable. Resonance
boxes were created in many ways.
The first was a hole dug in the ground under
the instrument, then a single resonance
box under the wooden keys; then rolled-up
armadillo shells or gourds of graduated sizes
were hung, sometimes containing water
to improve the sound. Animal skins and
eventually a thin membrane of pig intestine
were stretched over an opening to enhance
the vibration.
Time passed, with a multitude of materials
and methods employed in the evolution
of the marimba. Keys were added, reeds
and bamboo tubes replaced gourds and the
keyboard was set on a table to be played
in place. Balls of rubber were added to the
mallets for better tone. As the instrument
became larger, the marimba was played by
two, then three and four persons.
The marimba reached its present form
when the double keyboard, designed by
Guatemalan Sebastián Hurtado and his
brothers, was added, which made possible
the execution of all kinds of music. It may
have been inspired by the German piano.
The upper keys created the semi-tones, thus
eliminating the need to stick pieces of black
wax under the keys to modify the notes.
The double keyboard was officially introduced
in Guatemala in 1899 at the birthday
celebration of then President Manuel
Estrada Cabrera.
Purists lament the double keyboard,
however, saying the old melancholy sounds
better reflect the Mayan music. The marimba
had been an instrument of the indigenous
until the late 19th century, when
it was accepted as the instrument of choice
for certain occasions and places. Those who
similarly lament the addition of the violón,
the three-string bass, and drums or the
playing of the marimba with a band or orchestra
say the marimba should be played
alone or simply with the high flute to protect
its folkloric value.
What does seem indisputable, lest nothing
in this discussion seem certain, is that
the marimba has become a multicultural
instrument, known all over the planet. But
in no other place has the marimba been
given the attention that it has in Guatemala.
Carlos H. Monsanto D. wrote in an
editorial in Piedra Santa Guatemala: “This
does not make us feel bad. On the contrary,
proudly, we spread the beautiful tradition
that makes the instrument something so
inseparably Guatemalan. Let’s not forget
that the same thing happened with the
harp in Veracrúz and Chile, the accordion
in Argentina and the north of Mexico and
the Hawaiian guitar which, as proven, was
invented in Brooklyn, NY.”
A marimba favorite, La Luna de Xelajú was
played, which is to Guatemalans what The
Blue Danube is to the Viennese.
