The earliest reference to the xylophone in Europe comes from 1511. The xylophone having wooden bars arranged in a trapezoid form is called wooden cimbalom in Hungarian speaking regions, because the bars are arranged according to the scale division of the cimbalom, or hammered dulcimer. It was also called straw fiddle or straw music in the 19th century after the German Strohfiedel which refers to the fact that the bars of the xylophone linked by ropes were placed on straw or reed rolls. It is also called by the name straw fiddle by Mór Jókai in his novel entitled “Weekdays” (1846).
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