Mexico sings Japan

Abstract

The marimba is an instrument relatively much younger, compared to others that we can learn in the conservatories or universities. Unlike the string instruments or the piano, which have a vast repertoire, the marimba began to conform its own repertoire until the second half of the twentieth century. Before that the repertory encompassed mostly transcriptions or arrangements of famous works of classical music as it was the case with the xylophone during the first-half of that century. The development of the classical marimba is very interesting because they combine various factors that lead to what we know of marimba today. I currently reside in Chiapas, Mexico where I have been working for the University of Science and Arts for 10 years. At this University, there is a project to strengthen the teaching of both traditional and contemporary marimba, and all this with the purpose of making aware that musical instruments we all conform as human beings and that music belongs to all people without distinction. Music can also make us understand how roots and cultures are transformed into the new cultural identities. Why do the marimba of Central America and Japan have a cultural bond? That is what we want to show in this work.