Exploring the
ORCHESTRA
Celesta
Musical Section:
Percussion (Instruments that produce sound by hitting, shaking or scraping. Other instruments in this family include: celesta, chimes, crotales, cymbals, glockenspiel, maracas, marimba, piano, snare drum, Tam Tam, triangle, tambourine, vibraphone, xylophone and lots of others!) . Other instruments in this family: Bass Drum, Chimes, Cymbals, Piano, Tambourine, Timpani, Triangle, Xylophone
About the Celesta
What it looks like
The celesta looks like a small piano. It is a keyboard instrument you play by pressing keys. But instead of hitting strings, the keys hit metal plates that make a soft, bell-like sound. When you hear that special sound, you know something magical is about to happen. For example, in the holiday ballet “The Nutcracker,” the composer uses the celesta for the Sugar Plum Fairies. Angels, fairies, owls, it’s all magical!
Did you know? The melody often heard when Harry’s owl, Hedwig appears is played on the celesta.
How to Play
Both Maestros
Since the celesta is very much like a piano, you use the same technique, with hands relaxed and fingers curved over the keys.
The celesta’s sound is soft, so you press keys gently. Hard strikes won’t make it louder like a piano.
Where most pianos have three pedals, the celesta has one, called a damper pedal. When pressed, it allows the notes to ring and sustain and last longer.
Dark and Magical
When composer John Williams wanted a magical sound to represent Hedwig in the Harry Potter movies, he used the instrument composers have used for two hundred years to signal magic: the celesta.
But listen closely, because even though the celesta sounds tinkly and innocent, Hedwig’s melody itself is rather dark. It’s in a minor key and a little sneaky, like it has a secret. This combination and innocent and dark gives the music a very special quality whenever it appears. In a way, it’s the Harry Potter movies in a nutshell: dark and magical at once.
