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Celesta

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The Celesta is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. The "c" can be pronounced as an "s" or "ch," although it is most commonly pronounced as a "ch." The "a" at the end of the word is often silent when spoken. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano (four- or five-octave) or of a large wooden music box (three-octave). The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal (usually steel) plates suspended over wooden resonators. One pedal is usually available to sustain or dampen the sound, on four or five octave models. The three-octave instruments do not have a pedal, due to their small "table-top" design. One of the most well-known works for the celesta is Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" from The Nutcracker.

The sound of the celesta is akin to that of the glockenspiel, but with a much softer and more subtle timbre. This quality gave rise to the instrument's name, celeste meaning "heavenly" in French.

The celesta is a transposing instrument, sounding one octave higher than written. The original French instrument had a five-octave range, but as the lowest octave was considered somewhat unsatisfactory, it was omitted from later models. Ironically, the standard French four-octave instrument is now gradually being replaced in symphony orchestras by a larger, five-octave German model. Although treated as a member of the percussion section in orchestral terms, it is almost always played by a pianist, the part being normally written on two bracketed staves, called a grand staff.

History

The celesta was invented in 1889 by the Parisian harmonium builder Auguste Mustel. Mustel's father, Victor Mustel, had developed the forerunner of the celesta, the typophone or the dulcitone, in 1860. This consisted of struck tuning-forks instead of metal plates, but the sound produced was considered too small to be of use in an orchestral situation. Pyotr Tchaikovsky is cited as the first major composer to use this instrument in a symphonic work for full orchestra; it appears in his last symphonic poem The Voyevoda (Op. 3, 1868; premiered 1891) and in passages from his last ballet The Nutcracker (Op. 71, 1892) and its derived Opus 71a, The Nutcracker Suite — most notably the "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy." Ernest Chausson preceded him by employing the celesta in his incidental music for La tempête in 1888, written for a small orchestra. Charles Widor had also used it in his ballet La Korrigane in 1880.

Works featuring the celesta

The celesta, as with most orchestral instruments, is mainly found in classical music, as well as in many film scores and a few musicals. The following is a large list of major and minor works that feature the instrument:

In popular music

The celesta has also featured in popular music here and there since the mid twentieth century:

References

See also

External links



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Last updated on Sunday March 09, 2008 at 19:21:16 PDT (GMT -0700)
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