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The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), or a large wooden music box (three-octave). The keys connect to hammers that strike a graduated set of metal (usually steel) plates suspended over wooden resonators. Four- or five-octave models usually have a 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 is Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from ''The Nutcracker''. The sound of the celesta is similar to that of the glockenspiel, but with a much softer and more subtle timbre. This quality gave the instrument its name, ''celeste'' meaning "heavenly" in French. The celesta is a transposing instrument; it sounds an octave higher than the written pitch. Its (four-octave) sounding range is generally considered as C4 to C8, where C4 = middle C. The original French instrument had a five-octave range, but because the lowest octave was considered somewhat unsatisfactory, it was omitted from later models. The standard French four-octave instrument is now gradually being replaced in symphony 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 as a member of the keyboard section and usually played by a keyboardist. The celesta part is normally written on two bracketed staves, called a grand staff. ==History== The celesta was invented in 1886 by Parisian harmonium builder Auguste Mustel. His 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 it wasn't loud enough to use in an orchestra. Pyotr Tchaikovsky is usually cited as the first major composer to use this instrument in a work for full symphony orchestra. He first used it in his symphonic poem ''The Voyevoda'', Op. posth. 78, premiered in November 1891.〔Freed, Richard. (Jacket notes. ) "Tchaikovsky: 'Fatum,' ... 'The Storm,' ... 'The Voyevoda. Bochum Orchestra. Othmar Maga, conductor. Vox Stereo STPL 513.460. New York: Vox Productions, Inc., 1975.〕 The following year, he used the celesta in passages in his ballet ''The Nutcracker'' (Op. 71, 1892), most notably in the ''Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'', which also appears in the derived ''Nutcracker Suite'', Op. 71a. However, Ernest Chausson preceded Tchaikovsky by employing the celesta in December 1888 in his incidental music, written for a small orchestra, for ''La tempête'' (a French translation by Maurice Bouchor of Shakespeare's ''The Tempest'').〔Blades, James and Holland, James. "Celesta"; Gallois, Jean. "Chausson, Ernest: Works", (Grove Music Online ) (Accessed 8 April 2006) (subscription required)〕 The celesta is also notably used in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6, particularly in the 1st, 2nd and 4th movements, in his Symphony No.8 and ''Das Lied von der Erde''. Karol Szymanowski featured it in his Symphony No. 3. Gustav Holst employed the instrument in his 1918 orchestral work ''The Planets'', particularly in the final movement, ''Neptune, the Mystic''. It also features prominently in Béla Bartók's 1936 ''Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta''. George Gershwin included a celesta solo in the score to ''An American in Paris''. Ferde Grofe also wrote an extended cadenza for the instrument in the third movement of his ''Grand Canyon Suite''. Dmitri Shostakovich included parts for celesta in seven out of his fifteen symphonies, with a notable use in the fourth symphony's coda. 20th Century American composer Morton Feldman used the celesta in many of his large-scale pieces such as Crippled Symmetry and For Philip Guston, and it figured in much of his orchestral music and other pieces as well. The celesta is used in many 20th century opera scores, including Puccini's ''Tosca'' (1900), Ravel's ''L'heure espagnole'' (1911), Strauss's ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' (1912), and ''Die Frau ohne Schatten'' (1918), while "an excellent example of its beauty when well employed", is the Silver Rose scene in his ''Der Rosenkavalier'' (1911),〔Luttrell, Guy L. (1979). ''(The Instruments of Music )'', p.165. Taylor & Francis.〕 Busoni's ''Arlecchino'' (1917) and ''Doktor Faust'' (1925), Orff's second to last movement, ''Ave formosissima'' of ''Carmina Burana''〔("Juan Vicente Mas Quiles – ''Carmina Burana'' ), published by Schott Music〕 (1936) and in ''Der Mond'' (1939), Menotti's ''Amelia Goes to the Ball'' (1937), Britten's ''The Turn of the Screw'' (1954) and ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1960), Susa's ''Transformations'' (1973), and Philip Glass' ''Akhnaten'' (1984). The keyboard glockenspiel part in Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'' is nowadays often played by a celesta.〔("An Overview of Yamaha Celestas" ) retrieved 13 March 2012〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Celesta」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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