Celebrating The 125th Anniversary of the Celesta
Celesta No. 1 invented by Victor Mustel 1886 in Paris
Patent drawing illustrating the invention with the metal bars stroke from above
Excerpt from the patent application by Victor Mustel on June 2th 1886, patent granted on October 8th 1886: “The invention for which a patent is being applied is a new musical instrument I name ‘Celesta’. The sound is produced by metal bars hit by piano hammers in a very special way (from above), as published in the drawing….” Victor Mustel also clearly excludes in his patent-writing the action of a vertical piano and the action of a grand piano in the construction of the Celesta. Be aware that a musical instrument using a grand piano action with the metal bars struck from the bottom is not a Celesta or Cel. Nowadays Schiedmayer is the only company worldwide manufacturing the Celesta as invented by Victor Mustel. Following models are available: 4 oct., 5 oct., 5.5 oct. Standard-Compact, 5.5 oct. Studio Other products: Keyboard-glockenspiel c2-g5, Glockenspiel for pipe organs c2-d5 After-sale service - Rentals - Repairs – Refurbished instruments For further information please contact Schiedmayer Celesta GmbH Schaeferhauser Str. 10/2 – D73240 Wendlingen/Germany Phone +49 (0)7024 / 5019840 www.celesta-schiedmayer.de schiedmayer.stuttgart@t-online.de
s s e l r a Fe : s y e n Jour
ASCAP Award-winning composer and music journalist FRANK J. OTERI is composer advocate at the American Music Center and the founding editor of its web magazine, NewMusicBox.
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And, according to Hubbard, the audience response has been extremely positive: “It’s a fascinating process for them to observe.” All the same, the economic downturn is a concern; might it prove more difficult to convince orchestras to engage in something so filled with unknowns? “Everybody is concerned about expense right now,” admits Hubbard. “Every orchestra is taking a hard look at every single dime and where they’re spending it. I have a lot of orchestras telling me that they would love to do this. But if the orchestra doesn’t own their hall then they have to incur venue and production expenses that could be cost-prohibitive. Smaller orchestras have to pay their musicians per service on top of what they’re already doing—and that makes it challenging. Cost is the factor. The program provides a stipend of $2,500 for the readings. We’re trying to provide some financial support in addition to all of the administrative and staff support.” Of course, if orchestras don’t invest in their future, there might be no future. And it is clear that whatever the future of the orchestra is, it must involve the nurturing and performance of new repertoire. Economic realities have made it imperative to find ways to do things with fewer resources. But the opportunity to partner with other organizations and partake of their resources—both organizational and financial—is one way to continue to explore valuable new ideas. The people involved with EarShot hope that making their services available to orchestras will not only reduce the potential challenges involved with presenting new music, but will also reduce doubts about such a venture.
Does your orchestra work with composers in creating new works? Is there a value to composers getting direct feedback from your musicians and conductor?
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