Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A musical instrument with a keyboard and metal plates struck by hammers that produce bell-like tones.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A musical instrument, played from a keyboard of five octaves, in which the sound is produced by the blows of hammers upon steel plates placed over resonators of wood. It was invented by Mustel of Paris in 1886, and has been introduced into some orchestral and operatic scores.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Mus.) a musical instrument consisting of graduated steel plates that are struck by hammers activated by a keyboard.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun music a musical
instrument consisting principally of a set ofgraduated steelplates struck withhammers that are activated by akeyboard .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a musical instrument consisting of graduated steel plates that are struck by hammers activated by a keyboard
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word celesta.
Examples
-
A '' 'celesta' '' or '' 'celeste' '' ([[France | French]]: '' heavenly '') is a percussion instrument with a piano-like keyboard, connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of steel plates suspended over wooden resonators.
Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] Amccloud 2010
-
A '' 'celesta' '' or '' 'celeste' '' ([[France | French]]: '' heavenly '') is a percussion instrument with a piano-like keyboard, connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of steel plates suspended over wooden resonators.
Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] Amccloud 2010
-
Performed by the Chroma chamber orchestra on instruments as diverse as the guitar and celesta, the music is partly influenced by ethnographical recordings made in the Belgian Congo in the 1950s.
Pilgrimage Into a Dark Night of the Soul Jeanne Whalen 2011
-
Spine-tingling effects pour out of the orchestra pit: steamy strings, creepy celesta, slippery harp, fluttery piccolo, tender soprano and alto flutes, seductive bass and treble clarinets, and a battery of heart-palpitating percussion instruments.
Rodney Punt: Turn of the Screw Gets a Stunning New Turn at LA Opera Rodney Punt 2011
-
"Biophilia" is built in large part on instruments Björk and her team invented, including a bronze keyboard that's a cross between a celesta and a gamelan, a digital pipe organ, a Tesla coil that replicates rumbling bass, and a series of 30-foot-tall sound-producing pendulums.
Bells, Whistles, Chimes and Charm Jim Fusilli 2011
-
In the far corner, meanwhile, is Biophilia's "gameleste" – a celesta rebuilt with brass to mimic the sounds of the south-east Asian gamelan.
-
Spine-tingling effects pour out of the orchestra pit: steamy strings, creepy celesta, slippery harp, fluttery piccolo, tender soprano and alto flutes, seductive bass and treble clarinets, and a battery of heart-palpitating percussion instruments.
Rodney Punt: Turn of the Screw Gets a Stunning New Turn at LA Opera Rodney Punt 2011
-
Spine-tingling effects pour out of the orchestra pit: steamy strings, creepy celesta, slippery harp, fluttery piccolo, tender soprano and alto flutes, seductive bass and treble clarinets, and a battery of heart-palpitating percussion instruments.
Rodney Punt: Turn of the Screw Gets a Stunning New Turn at LA Opera Rodney Punt 2011
-
Spine-tingling effects pour out of the orchestra pit: steamy strings, creepy celesta, slippery harp, fluttery piccolo, tender soprano and alto flutes, seductive bass and treble clarinets, and a battery of heart-palpitating percussion instruments.
Rodney Punt: Turn of the Screw Gets a Stunning New Turn at LA Opera Rodney Punt 2011
-
In the far corner, meanwhile, is Biophilia's "gameleste" – a celesta rebuilt with brass to mimic the sounds of the south-east Asian gamelan.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.