by Joy Houston

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)

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.