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| Keyboard instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Celeste |
| Classification | Idiophone Metallophone |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 111.222 (sets of percussion plaques) |
| Inventors |
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| Developed |
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| Playing range | |
| C3 – F8 | |
| Related instruments | |
| Sound sample | |
| Excerpt fromRaymonda by Alexander Glazunov, arranged for solo celesta and performed byCelia García-García | |
Thecelesta (/sɪˈlɛstə/) orceleste (/sɪˈlɛst/), also called abell-piano, is a struckidiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box (three-octave). The keys connect to hammers that strike a graduated set of metal (usually steel) plates or bars suspended over woodenresonators. Four- or five-octave models usually have a damper pedal that sustains or damps the sound. The three-octave instruments do not have a pedal because of their small "table-top" design. One of the best-known works that uses the celesta isPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" fromThe Nutcracker.
The sound of the celesta is similar to that of theglockenspiel, but with a much softer and more subtletimbre. This quality gave the instrument its name,celeste, meaning "heavenly" in French. The celesta is often used to enhance a melody line played by another instrument or section. Its musical parts are often the duplicate of a theme played on flute, harp or piano; sometimes even a real solo part. It is also used in chamber music, but there are very few concertos written for it. The delicate, bell-like sound is not loud enough to be used in full ensemble sections.
The celesta is atransposing instrument; it sounds one octave higher than the written pitch. Instruments of different sizes exist with ranges of three to five and a half octaves. Its four-octave sounding range is generally considered to beC4 to C8. The fundamental frequency of 4186 Hz makes this one of the highest pitches in common use. The original French instrument had a five-octave range, but because the lowest octave was considered somewhat unsatisfactory, it was omitted from later models before eventually being added back when technology improved. The standard French four-octave instrument is gradually being replaced insymphony orchestras by a larger, five-octave German model. Although it is a member of the percussion family, in orchestral terms it is more properly considered a member of thekeyboard section and usually played by a keyboardist. The celesta part is normally written on twobraced staves, called agrand staff.
The celesta was invented in 1886 by the Parisianharmonium builderAuguste Mustel [fr]. His father, Charles Victor Mustel, had developed the forerunner of the celesta, the typophone, in 1860. This instrument produced sound by strikingtuning forks instead of the metal plates that would be used in the celesta. Thedulcitone functioned identically to the typophone and was developed concurrently in Scotland; it is unclear whether their creators were aware of one another's instrument.[1] The typophone's and dulcitone's uses were limited by its low volume, too quiet to be heard in a full orchestra.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is usually cited as the first major composer to use this instrument in a work for fullsymphony orchestra. He first used it in hissymphonic poemThe Voyevoda, Op. posth. 78, premiered in November 1891.[2] The following year, he used the celesta in passages of his balletThe Nutcracker (Op. 71, 1892), most notably in theVariation de la Fée Dragée (commonly known as theDance of the Sugar Plum Fairy), in response to instructions from theBalletmasterMarius Petipa that the music should resemble"...drops of water shooting out of fountains...".[3]
However,Ernest Chausson preceded Tchaikovsky by employing the celesta in December 1888 in hisincidental music, written for a small orchestra, forLa tempête (a French translation byMaurice Bouchor ofWilliam Shakespeare'sThe Tempest).[4]
The celesta is also notably used inGustav Mahler'sSymphony No. 6, particularly in the 1st, 2nd and 4th movements, in hisSymphony No. 8 andDas Lied von der Erde.Karol Szymanowski featured it in hisSymphony No. 3.Gustav Holst employed the instrument in his 1918 orchestral workThe Planets, particularly in the final movement,Neptune, the Mystic. It also features prominently inBéla Bartók's 1936Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.Ottorino Respighi included it in a number of his works, particularly the "Roman triptych" of tone poems.George Gershwin included a celesta solo in the score toAn American in Paris.Ferde Grofe also wrote an extendedcadenza for the instrument in the third movement of hisGrand Canyon Suite.Dmitri Shostakovich included parts for celesta in seven out of his fifteen symphonies, with a notable use in thefourth symphony'scoda.Erich Wolfgang Korngold featured it in many of his works, fromMarietta's lied in act 1 of his operaDie tote Stadt, through his film career, to hisViolin Concerto (particularly in the second movement), and beyond.
Twentieth-century American composerMorton Feldman used the celesta in many of his large-scale chamber pieces such asCrippled Symmetry andFor Philip Guston, and it figured in much of his orchestral music and other pieces. In some works, such as "Five Pianos" one of the players doubles on celesta.
The celesta is used inCarl Orff's cantataCarmina Burana (1936),[5] and in some 20th-century operas such as the Silver Rose scene inDer Rosenkavalier (1911).[6]
Thekeyboard glockenspiel part in Mozart'sThe Magic Flute is nowadays often played by a celesta.[7]
SinceEarl Hines took it up in 1928, otherjazz pianists have occasionally used the celesta as an alternative instrument. In the 1930s,Fats Waller sometimes played celesta with his right hand and piano simultaneously with his left hand. Other notable jazz pianists who occasionally played the celesta includeMemphis Slim,Meade "Lux" Lewis,Willie "The Lion" Smith,Art Tatum,Duke Ellington,Thelonious Monk,Buddy Greco,Oscar Peterson,McCoy Tyner,Sun Ra,Keith Jarrett, andHerbie Hancock. A celesta provides the introduction toSomeday You'll Be Sorry, a songLouis Armstrong recorded forRCA, and is featured prominently throughout the piece.[citation needed] A celesta is used by the pianistRuss Freeman on tracks fromChet Baker Sings (such asMy Ideal andI Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)). A number of recordingsFrank Sinatra made forColumbia in the1940s feature the instrument (for instanceI'll Never Smile Again),[8] as do many of his albums recorded forCapitol in the 1950s (In the Wee Small Hours,Close to You andSongs for Swingin' Lovers).[9]
The use of celesta in jazz rapidly declined with the advent of thevibraphone.
Notable pop and rock songs recorded with the celesta include:
Icelandic bandSigur Rós included celesta on their albumTakk...,[14] as did lead singerJónsi onGo Quiet, the acoustic version of his solo albumGo.Steven Wilson also uses it on various tracks in his solo works.
The Italian 1970sprogressive rock band Celeste was named after the instrument.
Bruce Springsteen and theE Street Band used a celesta heavily in their early days, withDanny Federici often playing a Jenco Celestette in the band's live performances throughout the 1970s and 80s.
Sheryl Crow plays celesta on her 2017 album,Be Myself.[15]
The bandA-ha used, among other instruments, a Jenco celesta during theirMTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice performances, recorded and released in 2017.
The celesta has been common in cinema for decades. In addition to supplementing numerous soundtrack orchestrations for films from the1930s through to the1960s, the celesta has occasionally been spotlighted to invoke a whimsical air. For example, inPinocchio (1940), a small motif on the celesta is used whenever the Blue Fairy appears out of thin air or performs magic. Celesta also provides the signature opening ofPure Imagination, a song (sung byGene Wilder) from the1971 filmWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.[citation needed] ComposerJohn Williams's scores for the first threeHarry Potter films feature the instrument, particularly in the first two films' frequent statements of "Hedwig's Theme".
Another use of the celesta was in the music on thechildren's television seriesMister Rogers' Neighborhood. It was heard in the intro to the theme song of the programme, "Won't You Be My Neighbor", which began with a dreamy sequence on the instrument. The song was sung byFred Rogers and played byJohnny Costa. It was also used from time to time in other music sequences throughout the programme.[citation needed]
Schiedmayer[16] andYamaha[17] are the only companies currently making celestas. Other known manufacturers that made celestas in the past include:
If an ensemble or orchestra lacks a celesta, a piano, synthesizer, or sampler and electronic keyboards are often used as a substitute.
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