Woodblock

(Fr. bloc de bois, tambour de bois; Ger. Holzblock, Holzblocktrommel; It. cassa di legno).

A term for a small wooden Slit-drum (classified as a percussion tube; see Idiophone), generally used to signify the Western orchestral instrument. Woodblocks are related to the rectangular wooden slit-drums used as time-beaters by the Han Chinese (ban), hence the occasional specification of ‘Chinese woodblocks’. The two-toned cylindrical woodblock, however, is of Western origin. In ragtime and jazz, the woodblock is often referred to as ‘clog box’ or ‘tap box’.

The orchestral woodblock is generally in the form of a rectangular block of teak or similar heavy hardwood with one or sometimes two slotted longitudinal cavities. The instrument varies from about 15 to 30 cm in length, 8–15 cm in width and 7–10 cm in depth. The tone of this small instrument is resonant and penetrating. It is normally suspended on a special fitting or rested on a felt-covered surface, and is struck on the surface or the edge above the slot with wooden drumsticks or beaters such as those used for the orchestral xylophone.

20th-century composers to score for these instruments in orchestral works include Walton in Façade (1921–2); Prokofiev in his Fifth (1944) and Sixth (1945–7) Symphonies (‘legno’) and Copland in Music for a Great City (1964; ‘woodblocks, high and low’). Cage’s Amores (1943) requires seven woodblocks. Britten specified two tuned woodblocks in his church parables The Burning Fiery Furnace (1966) and The Prodigal Son (1968; A and E, and A and D respectively).

See also Temple blocks.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BladesPl

N. Del Mar: Anatomy of the Orchestra (London, 1981)

JAMES BLADES/JAMES HOLLAND