Celesta

As Printed on a Score

Labels its own grand staff (Celesta, French Célesta; Cel. later), usually grouped with the harp and keyboards between the percussion and the strings. The part is written an octave below sounding pitch, and that transposition is normally taken for granted rather than marked, so a reader must know the convention.

Abbreviations: Cel., Cel

Also spelled: Celeste, Célesta

How Composers Use It

Its hammers strike steel bars over wooden resonators, giving a sweet, softly fading chime that is easily covered, so use it in quiet, transparent textures or to double a soft melody high up. Tchaikovsky made it famous in the “Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy” in The Nutcracker; in Ravel’s Boléro it joins two piccolos on the horn’s statement of the melody to colour the sound. Chords and arpeggios work well; the low register is weak.

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