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(from Grk., wood sound; Ger. Xylophon; It. xilofono, silofono). A KEYBOARD PERCUSSION instrument with hardwood KEYS arranged and tuned like a piano; each key has a RESONATOR tuned to it. The keys are fastened horizontally to two stretched boards and played with two or more sticks or mallets.

Predecessors of the modern xylophone are found in many parts of the world, consisting of a few wooden bars of different lengths producing different tones. They were usually laid out on straw, and therefore became known among explorers as STROHFIEDEL (straw fiddle).

The early xylophone reached its greatest development in Southeast Asia in the 14th century. The instrument had spread westward into Africa, then the Americas, arriving in Europe by the 16th century. Gradually assuming its modern form, the European-American xylophone was imported into Latin America and Africa and became a kind of piano with wooden keys.

Many composers of the 20th century included the xylophone in their symphonic scores, including the Sabre Dance from Gayané by ARAM KHACHATURIAN. CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS used it to great effect in his Danse macabre, to suggest the bone rattling of disembodied ghosts.