Celesta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Celesta (IPA [səˈlɛstə]) is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal (usually steel) plates suspended over wooden resonators. There is a pedal to sustain or dampen the sound.

The sound of the celesta is akin to that of the glockenspiel, but with a much softer 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. Interestingly 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 usually played by a pianist, the part being normally written on two bracketed staves.

Contents 1 History 2 Works featuring the celesta 3 In popular music 4 References 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] 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 to use this instrument in a symphonic work for full orchestra; it appears in his last symphonic poem The Voyevoda (premiered 1891)^[1] 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.^[2] Charles Widor had also used it in his ballet La Korrigane in 1880.^[3]

[edit] Works featuring the celesta

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

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) (1791) (the celesta is often used instead of the glockenspiel for the opera)
• Modest Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina (1872) (the celesta is used in the orcestration by Dimitri Shostakovich of 1959)
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (1892) (Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy most well known work for the celesta) and The Voyevoda (1891)
• Ernest Chausson: La tempête (1888)
• Charles Widor: La Korrigane (1880)
• Richard Strauss: Salome (1904), Der Rosenkavalier (1911) and Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne of Naxos) (1912)
• Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 6 (1906) and Symphony No. 8 'Symphony of a Thousand' (1907)
• Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird (1910) and Petrushka (1911)
• Claude Debussy: Jeux (1913)
• Giacomo Puccini: Tosca (1900) and Turandot (1926)
• Ralph Vaughan Williams: Flos Campi (1925)
• Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé (1912), Bolero (1928) and Ma Mère l'Oye (Mother Goose) (1911-1912)
• Gustav Holst: Venus and Neptune, from The Planets (1917)
• Arthur Honegger: Le Roi David (1921)
• Alban Berg: Seven Early Songs (Sieben frühe Lieder) (written 1905 to 1908 for piano and soprano then orchestrated in 1928) and Wozzeck (1922)
• Ottorino Respighi: Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome) (1924)
• Gottfried Huppertz: Metropolis (film score) (1927)
• George Gershwin: An American in Paris (1928)
• Ferde Grofe: "On the Trail" from the Grand Canyon Suite (1931)
• Leos Janacek: Káťa Kabanová (1921)
• Heitor Villa-Lobos: Toccata, from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2 (1933)
• Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 (1936), Symphony No. 11 (1957), Symphony No. 15 (1972), and Cello Concerto No. 1 (1959)
• Béla Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (1937)
• Olivier Messian: Trois Petites liturgies de la Présence Divine (1943-44) and Turangalila Symphony (2 celesta are required) (1949)
• Sergei Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kije (either celesta or piano) (1933), Symphony No. 6 (1947) and Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1952)
• Leonard Bernstein: Symphony No. 2, 'The Age of Anxiety', (after W. H. Auden) (1949 and revised in 1965)
• Stephen Sondheim: Sunday in the Park with George (1985). In addition to the instrument, the first act contains two characters named Celeste.
• Jonathan Dove: Flight (1998)
• John Williams: Hedwig's Theme, from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
• Jason Robert Brown: The Last Five Years (2002)
• Guto Puw: Dawns y Sêr (Dance of Stars) (2007)

[edit] In popular music

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

• Thelonious Monk: "Pannonica", from Brilliant Corners (1957)
• Buddy Holly: "Everyday" (1958)
• The Beach Boys" "Girl Don't Tell Me" (1965)
• Mimi & Richard Fariña: "Children of Darkness" from Reflections in a Crystal Wind (1965)
• Herbie Hancock: on Freddie Hubbard's "True Colors", from Blue Spirits (1966)
• The Velvet Underground: "Sunday Morning", from The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967)
• The Mothers Of Invention: " Absolutely Free", from We're Only In It For The Money (1968)
• Pink Floyd "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (1968)
• Nick Drake: "Northern Sky", from "Bryter Layter" (1970)
• U2: "Bad" from 1984's The Unforgettable Fire
• The Stooges: "Gimmie Danger" and "Penetration" from Raw Power (1973)
• McCoy Tyner: "Once I Loved, Land of the Lonely" from Trident (1975)
• The Beatles: "Real Love" (1977, 1996)
• Eels: "Flyswatter" from Daisies of the Galaxy (2000); "Trouble With Dreams" from Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (2005)
• Björk: "Scatterheart" from Selmasongs (2000); "Sun In My Mouth", "Harm Of Will" and It's Not Up To You" from Vespertine (2001); "Mother Heroic" from Family Tree (2002)
• Death Cab for Cutie: "Title and Registration" from Transatlanticism (2003)
• The Polyphonic Spree: "Hold Me Now", "Lithium" (Nirvana cover) (2004)
• Sigur Rós: "Sé Lest" and "Heysátan" from Takk (2005)

[edit] References

1. ^ Freed, Richard. [LP Jacket notes.] Tchaikovsky: "Fatum," [...] "The Storm," [...] "The Voyevoda." Bochum Orchestra. Othmar Maga, conductor. Vox Stereo STPL 513.460. New York: Vox Productions, Inc., 1975.
2. ^ Blades, James and Holland, James. "Celesta"; Gallois, Jean. "Chausson, Ernest: Works," Grove Music Online (Accessed 8 April 2006) (subscription required)
3. ^ The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, ISBN 1-85868-185-5, p104

[edit] See also

• Rhodes piano, an electric instrument similar to the celesta
• Dulcitone

[edit] External links

• NPR - The Celesta: The Sound of the Sugar Plum Fairy
• Comprehensive article with photos, history etc.