Learn about Classical Marimba History

The Patriarch of Modern Classical Marimba – Clair O. Musser (1901-1998)

The Matriarchs of Modern Classical Marimba form an illustrious list of individuals: Vida Chenoweth, Ruth Stuber Jeanne, Keiko Abe, and others! More to come soon.

The rich history of classical marimba in Pennsylvania.

Enjoy this video honoring Clair O. Musser.

A Retrospective of 100 Years of Mallet Percussion Ensembles

A little more about Musser’s Marimba Celeste

Clair Musser’s Deagan Vitaphonic marimba. That instrument, made in 1927, was probably the first amplified mallet percussion keyboard; but it was not the only amplified keyboard Musser designed and performed with. Only two years after Musser acquired the Vitaphonic marimba, he needed funds for the purchase of a new amplified instrument. So, he sold the Vitaphonic marimba to Carl Fisher, a marimbist from Pennsylvania, who Musser probably knew because he also was a Pennsylvania resident.

The second amplified marimba, conceived by Clair Musser and produced in 1929 by the Deagan company of Chicago, was the "Marimba Celeste." This instrument included two keyboards: one rosewood marimba and one aluminum vibraphone. The marimba keyboard had a range of 5 octaves plus a major 2nd, from low C3 to high D8. That is the top 4 octaves of the marimba register, plus the highest octave of the xylophone range, and the C# and D above the xylophone high C.

The vibraphone keyboard included vibrato and a damper pedal. The range was 2 octaves from C5 to C7, which are the highest 1.5 octaves of the standard vibes range plus an additional fifth upwards. Due to the long forward reach when playing this vibes keyboard, the 2 octaves of bars were laid out in a single chromatic row. In order to identify the pitches, contrasting light and dark keys were used, like ivory and ebony piano keys. The natural vibes bars were therefore gold plated, while the chromatic bars were anodized black.

Due to the high tessitura of the vibes, the sound was probably similar to a celeste, hence Musser's name "Marimba Celeste" for this massive duel-timbrel instrument. The marimba bars were amplified through the use of one or more condenser microphones coupled to electric drivers, which were channeled into two speakers situated in the bases of large brass horns resembling tuba bells. Musser claimed that at full volume this instrument could be heard outdoors for a range of two miles. Though that may have been an overstatement, witnesses attested that the marimba celeste filled an entire theater with an organ-like sonority.

The horns were gold plated, and the resonators were brass. There is a non-functional decorative row of resonators between the celeste and the marimba chromatics. These were anodized bronze to make them distinguishable between the adjacent rows of brass. The front marimba resonators are arranged with a double arch to accommodate placement of the horns. The oak rails of the frame are covered in nickel-plated metal, with two nickel-plated metal struts supporting the vibes rails.

Until this time, Deagan keyboard floor racks had been tubular A-frame style, requiring assembly with thumb bolts. However, the Marimba Celeste’s end pieces featured brass columns affixed to end-boards, making this the first marimba with full-sized furniture quality end pieces. This development was likely necessitated by the enormous aggregate weight of more than seven octaves of keyboard, four rows of brass resonators, and two massive speakers. Musser listed the weight as 1,277 pounds, which probably referred to the instrument when packed in shipping trunks.

The brass columned end pieces as well as the double arch contour of the front resonators are both features later incorporated in the Deagan King George marimbas, also designed by Musser and manufactured by the Deagan firm four years later, in 1934. The Marimba Celeste is therefore the progenitor of the King George marimba.

Musser used this instrument for a period of about 8 years, from 1930 -1938, including performances on his recital in Chicago's Orchestra Hall in May 1930, and as soloist with the Century of Progress Marimba Orchestra outdoors in Chicago in 1933. Music critic, Herman Devries, attended Musser’s 1930 Chicago recital, and noted:

“We made acquaintance last night with a new instrument and an artist new to this reviewer. The marimba-celeste was played by Clair Omar Musser in Orchestra Hall. . . . he is without a doubt a remarkable virtuoso, a master of the instrument. . . the marimba-celeste combines the glitter and brilliance of the marimba with the delicacy of the celeste and may perhaps be called the apotheosis of the xylophone.”

Another critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer stated:

“Musser’s dexterity is astounding. Critics in last night’s audience were amazed at the technique in the playing of the French compositions by Rhene-Baton. He is indeed the Liszt of the marimba.”

In 1930, Clair Musser was appointed sales manager of the mallet instrument division of J C Deagan, Inc., a fulltime endeavor that marginalized Musser’s performing activities. Ironically, only a year after the introduction of the Marimba Celeste, Musser’s use of the instrument waned, and the instrument ultimately saw little use. In 1938, therefore, Musser sold the marimba celeste for $10,000; an equivalent of about $226,000 dollars today! The buyer was Leroy Miller, a coal salesman generally referred to as Roy Miller.

Roy had a 12 year old son named Leroy Miller Jr, who played the xylophone, and so Roy Sr. bought the marimba celeste as a Christmas gift for his 12 year old son. Can you imagine this most incredible one-of-a-kind mallet keyboard as a child's gift? Musser probably needed capital for some business or personal endeavor, and in the 1930's there were not many Americans who could hand over $10K cash for a musical instrument.

Little Leroy Miller was a student of James Betz in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Miller played the marimba celeste in several public appearances in Allentown, and also performed on that instrument on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour television program in 1939. In fact, on that TV show, the marimba celeste was billed as the largest xylophone in the world, which may help explain why the young Miller boy was given the opportunity to appear in that show.

One performance where Miller played the marimba celeste occurred in 1939 in a concert presented by the Yoder Family Marimba Players. This family ensemble was led by Reverend C. J. Yoder, and included his three children Dorothy, Ruth, and James, as well as John and Alvin Albright, who were brothers. On the Yoder concert, Leroy Miller was a guest performer, playing the marimba celeste.

Dorothy Yoder had previously been a member of two Musser groups: the Century of Progress Marimba Orchestra and also the International Marimba Symphony Orchestra. Due to Dorothy's connections to both Musser and Allentown marimba students, she may have facilitated the sale of the marimba celeste to Roy Miller Sr for his son. So, the marimba celeste was an almost unbelievably magnificent instrument, that oddly enough ended up far from Chicago in a rural area in the hands of a 12 year old student who seems to have used it only briefly before discontinuing music.

The fact that James Betz, the entire Yoder family, and the Albright brothers all performed in concerts alongside little Leroy Miller on his marimba celeste indicates that many prominent Pennsylvania marimbists knew the location of the marimba celeste, who owned it, and presumably where that instrument went when Leroy Miller lost interest. Beyond that point, however, there is no further first-hand mention of this fabulous instrument.

The marimba celeste contained a massive quantity of metal, including brass in its four rows of resonators and two speaker horns, metal paneling on the entire frame, and metal struts. During World War II, the United States was so desperate for metal for the war effort, that the use of many types of metal in manufacturing was temporarily banned. Marimbas made during this period incorporated fiberboard resonators, replacing brass. Furthermore, a nationwide metal drive was established to round up all available scrap for government use. In 1942, a scrap metal drive in one American city produced 7,658 tons of metal in just two weeks.

Most early marimbas and xylophones had brass resonators and steel floor racks, and it is due to the 1940s metal collection activities that so few survive today as compared to their popularity in their heyday. So, the marimba celeste would have been patriotically valuable as scrap metal at about the time when Leroy Miller Jr seems to have ceased using the instrument. As the marimba celeste has not resurfaced after 80 years, it seems unlikely to have survived. Or perhaps the instrument endured the war period, and now rests in an attic, barn, or basement, patiently waiting to be rediscovered.

Whether it exists today or not, the Marimba Celeste remains historically as one of the greatest mallet percussion instruments ever created. Clair Musser, designer of this stunningly innovative electric keyboard, was a visionary with a genius for design and musicianship, and a passion for the modern marimba. Musser’s two amplified marimbas predate the next appearance of amplified keyboards by decades. In performing, teaching, marketing, and manufacturing, Clair Musser was a towering figure well ahead of his time. ~ David Harvey https://melodicmarimba.com/