The celesta is a unique keyboard percussion instrument known for its ethereal, bell-like sound.
Invented in 1886 by Auguste Mustel, it quickly captured the imagination of composers. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was among the first to showcase its magical qualities, famously using it in The Nutcracker (1892), particularly in the iconic '“'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'. The celesta’s delicate, shimmering tone makes it ideal for evoking wonder, mystery, and fantasy. Since Tchaikovsky’s time, it has been embraced in classical music, film scores, and even jazz, adding a celestial touch wherever its distinctive voice is heard.
The celesta and the piano
Having patented several innovations of the harmonium, Mustel invented his first percussive keyboard instrument in 1866: this was the typophone, a piano-like construction whose hammers struck large tuning forks.
The French composer Ernest Chausson may have originally used the typophone rather than celesta for his 1888 incidental music to Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Originally scored for a small orchestra, it was possibly the typophone’s modest sound, unsuited for orchestras, that persuaded Chausson subsequently to rescore his music for an even smaller ensemble, complementing the instrument with a string trio, plus flute and harp.
Published in 1905 after Chausson’s death, the score specifies not a typophone but the brighter-sounding celesta: like the typophone, it uses a piano-like construction, though rather than hitting tuning forks it strikes little metal plates similar to a glockenspiel’s.
By then, the celesta had made its triumphant appearance in The Nutcracker, having featured even earlier in Tchaikovsky’s tone poem Voyevoda late in 1891. So Tchaikovsky may well have been, as legend has it, the first to use the celesta in a public performance.
Celesta: six memorable uses
1. Tchaikovsky – 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' (from The Nutcracker, 1892)
Tchaikovsky was one of the first composers to use the celesta, creating the ethereal, bell-like sound that defines this famous ballet piece. The instrument's delicate, chiming tones evoke a magical, fairy-like atmosphere, perfectly complementing the graceful choreography and whimsical charm of the Sugar Plum Fairy’s dance.
2. Gustav Holst – 'Neptune, the Mystic' (from The Planets, 1915)
Holst employs the celesta in The Planets' Neptune to create an otherworldly, shimmering effect, enhancing the movement’s sense of cosmic mystery. The celesta’s soft, glistening tones blend with the ethereal women’s choir, adding an eerie, infinite quality to the music that perfectly encapsulates the vast, unknowable nature of space.
3. Béla Bartók – Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (1936)
Bartók masterfully integrates the celesta into this haunting and atmospheric work. The instrument’s eerie, metallic timbre heightens the piece’s suspense, particularly in the famous third movement. Its ghostly, unpredictable presence, combined with dissonant strings and percussion, adds an unsettling dreamlike quality, influencing later film music, including The Shining.
4. Sergei Prokofiev – Cinderella (Ballet, 1944)
Prokofiev uses the celesta in Cinderella to create a sparkling, magical sound, often associated with moments of transformation and fantasy. The instrument’s delicate, bell-like resonance enhances the fairy tale ambiance, particularly in scenes depicting Cinderella’s enchanted moments, reinforcing the dreamlike quality of the ballet’s storytelling.
5. Maurice Ravel – Mother Goose Suite (1910-1911)
Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite features the celesta to conjure a soft, dreamlike world of childhood fantasy. Particularly in The Fairy Garden movement, the instrument’s delicate, shimmering quality enhances the enchanted atmosphere, blending with harp and strings to create a sense of wonder and nostalgia.
6. Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 5 (1937)
In his Fifth Symphony, Shostakovich uses the celesta in the final movement, lending an unsettling yet poignant touch to the music. The instrument’s fragile, glistening sound contrasts with the symphony’s powerful orchestration, providing moments of eerie calm amid the tension, subtly conveying irony and introspection within the Soviet-era context.
Here is Prima Donna Nina Kaptsova as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Bolshoi Ballet 2010 production of The Nutcracker.