A musical instrument resembling a small upright piano, but with metal plates instead of strings and a shorter (five-octave) compass. It was invented in 1886 by French instrument maker Auguste Mustel (18421919) and used a few years later by Tchaikovsky in his ballet The Nutcracker (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy).
The sound of the celesta is akin to that of the glockenspiel, but with a much softer timbre.
The celesta is a transposing instrument, sounding one octave higher than written. Interestingly the standard French four-octave instrument is now gradually being replaced in symphony orchestras
by a larger, five-octave German model.
History
The celesta was invented in 1889 by the Parisian harmonium builder Auguste Mustel.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky is cited as the first to use this instrument in a symphonic work for full orchestra; it appears in his last symphonic poem The Voyevoda (premiered 1891) and in passages
from his last ballet The Nutcracker (1892) -- 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.
Works featuring the celesta
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky:
Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, from
The Nutcracker (1892) Richard Strauss:
Der Rosenkavalier (1911) Maurice Ravel:
Daphnis et Chloé
(1912) Gustav Holst:
Venus and
Neptune, from
The Planets (1917) Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (1933) Béla Bartók:
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (1937)
Olivier Messian:
Turangalila Symphony (1949) Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6 and Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 Symphony No. 1 Thelonious
Monk:
Pannonica, from
Brilliant Corners (1957) Buddy Holly:
Everyday (1958) The Velvet Underground: "Sunday Morning", from
The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967) Nick
Drake: "Northern Sky", from "Bryter Layter" (1970) The Stooges:
Penetration from
Raw Power (1973) John Williams:
Hedwig's Theme, from
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's
Stone (2001) Augustus Pablo:
Celesta King The Polyphonic Spree:
Hold Me Now,
Lithium (Nirvana cover) Eels:
Flyswatter from
Daisies of the Galaxy (2000);
Mother Heroic from
Family Tree (2002) Sigur Rós:
Sé Lest and
Heysátan from
Takk (2005) Death Cab for Cutie:
Title and Registration from
Transatlanticism (2003) Jonathan Dove: "Flight" (opera) 1998
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