The celesta is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano (four- or five-octave) or of a large wooden music box (three-octave). The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal (usually steel) plates suspended over wooden resonators. On four or five octave models one pedal is usually available to sustain or dampen the sound. The three-octave instruments do not have a pedal, due to their small "table-top" design. One of the best-known works that makes use of the celesta is Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" from The Nutcracker. The sound of the celesta is akin to that of the glockenspiel, but with a much softer and more subtle timbre. This quality gave rise to the instrument's name, celeste meaning "heavenly" in French. The celesta is a transposing instrument; it sounds an octave higher than the written pitch. The original French instrument had a five-octave range, but as the lowest octave was considered somewhat unsatisfactory, it was omitted from later models

Данное издание не является оригинальным. Книга печатается по технологии принт-он-деманд после получения заказа.