The Concerto No. 1 is cast in four movements and lasts a little under half an hour, which its composer has described as "about a tank of gas." It is the only one of the four works presented here whose manuscript is complete, legible, and unambiguously in his own hand, a distinction he regards as overrated.

The concerto's subject was conceived, as noted elsewhere, on the descent into Flagstaff, and something of that origin survives in the finished work: a persistent downhill momentum, a tendency to gather speed precisely where a more cautious composer would apply the brake. Dr. Trevelyan-Boake has called it "the only concerto in the repertoire that is audibly losing altitude." She intends this kindly.

A word on the orchestration. The xylophone is not a loud instrument, and the customary solution—thinning the orchestra until the soloist can be heard— struck Cilwa as an admission of defeat. His solution was to leave the orchestra exactly as it was and instruct the soloist to play harder. The results speak for themselves, and have been the subject of correspondence.

Xylophone Concerto #1

By Paul S Cilwa

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The Movements

Each movement has a page of its own, and a player of its own, for those who would rather take the work a movement at a time.

The soloist is given no introduction whatever, which is either a bold structural decision or an oversight the composer declined to correct once it was pointed out to him. More about the toccata.

Four voices, strictly handled, and the site of the celebrated coffee ring. Whether the resulting pause is a fermata or a moment in which the composer got up to answer the door remains the central controversy of Cilwa studies. More about the fugue.

A waltz in the sense that it has three beats to the bar. Dancers are advised to count them first. More about the waltz.

The material of the first movement returns, having apparently learned nothing, and the work ends in the key it began in—a conclusion Cilwa has defended as "the least I could do." More about the finale.

Xylophone Concerto #1: Toccata

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 9/19/2026		Page Views: 64
Hashtags: #Music #Classical #Xylophone #Concerto
No introduction whatever, which nobody has been able to prove was on purpose.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (148 words)

The soloist is given no introduction whatever. Whether this is a bold structural decision or an oversight the composer declined to correct once it had been pointed out to him is a question on which the literature divides more or less evenly, and on which Cilwa himself has been no help at all.

Xylophone Concerto #1: Fugue

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 9/19/2026		Page Views: 63
Hashtags: #Music #Classical #Xylophone #Concerto
Four voices, strictly handled, and the site of the celebrated coffee ring.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (165 words)

Four voices, strictly handled, and the site of the celebrated coffee ring. Whether the resulting pause is a fermata of unusual generosity or a moment in which the composer got up to answer the door remains the central controversy of Cilwa studies, and shows no sign of being settled.

Xylophone Concerto #1: Waltz

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 9/19/2026		Page Views: 45
Hashtags: #Music #Classical #Xylophone #Concerto
A waltz in the sense that it has three beats to the bar.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (90 words)

A waltz in the sense that it has three beats to the bar. Dancers are advised to count them first, and to keep counting.

Xylophone Concerto #1: Finale

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 9/19/2026		Page Views: 71
Hashtags: #Music #Classical #Xylophone #Concerto
The first movement's material returns, having learned nothing.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (108 words)

The material of the first movement returns, having apparently learned nothing, and the work ends in the key it began in—a conclusion Cilwa has defended as "the least I could do."