It doesnât matter how many melodies extracted from various musical instruments you have heard, there are such samples that will amaze the most sophisticated listener. Have you ever enjoyed a song of gentle chime of bells? But this is exactly how celesta sounds, the musical instrument that we want to tell you about.
What is celesta?
The word "celesta" comes from Ital. celesta - "extraterrestrial", "heavenly". This is the name of a percussion instrument that looks like a small piano. Its sound reminds the listener of the melodic chime of small bells.
A celest musical instrument , the photo of which you have already examined, can be an element of both a symphonic and a Russian national orchestra.
Celesta device
How is such an amazing melodic sound extracted? On a celesta musical instrument, the performer touches the keys, which in turn drive the mallets. They hit small steel platforms that are mounted on resonators, most often made of wood. As you can see, the mechanism is similar to the piano one, only in a simpler variation.
The range of the celest musical instrument is from 1 to 5 ("to" the first to fifth octave).
Instrument History
It is known that the tuning fork of the celesta was the tuning fork clavier, which was invented by the Londoner C. Klagget in 1788. The device was approximately the same, only the hammers hit differently sized tuning forks.
In the 1860s, the French master W. MĂźstel created a similar invention, which the creator called dulsiton. The son of V. Mustel Auguste in his fatherâs instrument decided to replace the tuning forks with metal plates located on the resonators. In 1886 he received a patent for a device called O. Mustel celesta.
We continue the information on a musical instrument with the history of its popularization in music.
Celeste in Academic Music
For the first time, celesta became an element of a symphony orchestra in 1888. Used it by E. Shausson to perform the composition of W. Shakespeare "The Tempest". And during his Parisian journey this musical instrument was heard by P.I. Tchaikovsky. The composer was so delighted and astounded by the celesta that he introduced the parts with her to the ballet The Nutcracker and the ballad Voivode. In the scene of the ballet âVariation of the Dragee Fairyâ, she depicted the sounds of drops falling from a fountain.
The celest musical instrument is also involved in the performance of the following well-known compositions:
- Symphony No. 6 and No. 8, a ballad entitled "Song of the Earth" by G. Mahler.
- Creation of a special flavor of the "Planet" suite by G. Holst.
- The fourth, sixth and thirteenth symphonies of D. Shostakovich.
- Opera "Distant ringing" Shreker.
- Opera "Akhenaten" Glass.
- Music for drums, celesta and strings of Bartok.
- "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Britten.
- "Philip Gustan" Feldman.
It should be noted that in the compositions of some composers of the "Golden Age" a batch of glass harmonics is prescribed - an instrument in which glass hemispheres of different diameters are strung on a rotating horizontal vector. Today it is out of use, and its role is successfully performed by celesta.
The notes for the heroine of our story are written an octave lower than the actual sound on two musicians. In the score (musical notation of polyphonic sound) written for a symphony orchestra, the part of the celesta is located higher than the harp and also the string instrument.
Celeste in jazz
We continue the story about the celest musical instrument. A report on him will include the story of his popularization in jazz. It was first used in this genre in the 1920s by musicians E. Hines and H. Carmichael. We also note the famous F. Waller, who could play with his right hand on the celesta and at the same time with his left hand on the piano. The sound of melodic bells can also be heard in the works of the following jazz artists:
- T. Monk.
- M. L. Lewis.
- M. Tyner.
- H. Hancock.
- W. L. Smith.
- D. Ellington.
- S. Ra.
- A. Tatum.
- O. Peterson.
Celeste, whom we have just met, is an amazingly sounding instrument, which is worth hearing at least once in my life, both in solo and in orchestra performance. She can decorate with a gentle bell chime a classical symphony, and of a different character of a suite, and folklore works, and jazz compositions. At the same time, the instrument structure, reminiscent of the piano, is quite simple - keys, mallets, metal plates, resonators.