Editing Celesta (section)

== History ==
[[File:Celesta Schiedmayer mechanism.gif|thumb|The Mustel celesta mechanism]]
The celesta was invented in 1886 by the Parisian [[Pump organ|harmonium]] builder {{ill|Auguste Mustel|fr|Auguste Victor Mustel}}. His father, Charles Victor Mustel, had developed the forerunner of the celesta, the typophone, in 1860. This instrument produced sound by striking [[tuning fork]]s instead of the metal plates that would be used in the celesta. The [[dulcitone]] functioned identically to the typophone and was developed concurrently in Scotland; it is unclear whether their creators were aware of one another's instrument.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mo|first1=Sue|title=Dulcitone|url=http://sumo55.co.uk/dulcitone.html|website=Sumo55 Websites & Multi Media Design|access-date=28 September 2016}}</ref> The typophone's and dulcitone's uses were limited by its low volume, too quiet to be heard in a full orchestra.

[[File:Чайковский Танец Феи Драже из балета Щелкунчик.webm|thumb|Abbreviated concert performance of ''Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'' by the orchestra of the [[Moscow Conservatory]]]]
[[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]] is usually cited as the first major composer to use this instrument in a work for full [[orchestra|symphony orchestra]]. He first used it in his [[symphonic poem]] ''[[The Voyevoda (symphonic ballad)|The Voyevoda]]'', Op. posth. 78, premiered in November 1891.<ref>[[Richard Freed|Freed, Richard]]. [LP Jacket notes.] "Tchaikovsky: 'Fatum,' ... 'The Storm,' ... 'The Voyevoda.{{'"}} Bochum Orchestra. Othmar Maga, conductor. Vox Stereo STPL 513.460. New York: Vox Productions, 1975.</ref> The following year, he used the celesta in passages of his ballet ''[[The Nutcracker]]'' (Op. 71, 1892), most notably in the ''Variation de la Fée Dragée'' (commonly known as the ''Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy''), in response to instructions from the [[Balletmaster]] [[Marius Petipa]] that the music should resemble ''"...drops of water shooting out of fountains..."''.<ref>{{cite book |last= Wiley|first= Roland John|author-link= |date= 1985|title= Tchaikovsky's Ballets|url= https://www.worldcat.org/title/10185315|location= New York|publisher= Oxford University Press|page= 379|isbn=9780193153141}}</ref>

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 [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[The Tempest]]'').<ref>Blades, James and Holland, James. "Celesta"; Gallois, Jean. "Chausson, Ernest: Works", [http://www.grovemusic.com Grove Music Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516041031/http://www.grovemusic.com/ |date=16 May 2008 }} (Accessed 8 April 2006) (subscription required)</ref>

The celesta is also notably used in [[Gustav Mahler]]'s [[Symphony No. 6 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 6]], particularly in the 1st, 2nd and 4th movements, in his [[Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 8]] and ''[[Das Lied von der Erde]]''. [[Karol Szymanowski]] featured it in his [[Symphony No. 3 (Szymanowski)|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]]''. [[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 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 [[Symphony No. 4 (Shostakovich)|fourth symphony]]'s [[Coda (music)|coda]]. [[Erich Wolfgang Korngold]] featured it in many of his works, from [[Glück, das mir verblieb|Marietta's lied]] in act 1 of his opera [[Die tote Stadt]], through his film career, to his [[Violin Concerto (Korngold)|Violin Concerto]] (particularly in the second movement), and beyond.

Twentieth-century American composer [[Morton Feldman]] used the celesta in many of his large-scale chamber pieces such as ''Crippled Symmetry'' and ''For 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 in [[Carl Orff]]'s cantata ''[[Carmina Burana (Orff)|Carmina Burana]]'' (1936),<ref>[http://www.stagepass.com/groupartist/artist_item_detail.hperl?Artist=Quiles%2C+Juan+Vicente+Mas&Invnum=49012080 "Juan Vicente Mas Quiles – ''Carmina Burana''], published by [[Schott Music]]</ref> and in some 20th-century operas such as the Silver Rose scene in ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'' (1911).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Luttrell |first1=Guy L. |title=The instruments of music |publisher=Taylor & Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oLw9AAAAIAAJ&q=celesta+rosenkavalier&pg=PA163 |date=1979 |page=165 |language=en |via=books.google.com}}</ref>

The [[keyboard glockenspiel]] part in Mozart's ''[[The Magic Flute]]'' is nowadays often played by a celesta.<ref>{{cite web |title=Musical Chime Instruments and Mallet - Yamaha USA |url=http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/percussions/celesta/an_overview_of_yamaha_celestas/?mode=model |website=usa.yamaha.com |access-date=13 March 2012 |language=en}}</ref>