# Tchaikovsky: What instruments are playing here?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tchaikovsky-what-instruments-are-playing-here/46214>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 18, 2000, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tchaikovsky-what-instruments-are-playing-here/46214 "2000-12-18T20:26:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Phydeaux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@Phydeaux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phydeaux)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tchaikovsky-what-instruments-are-playing-here/46214/1 "2000-12-18T20:26:27Z")

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Hello all –

My wife and I went to se Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. After the play we discussed specifically “The Dance of the Sugar Plumb Fairy”. The melody line is so very memorable and the sound is so different that we wanted to know exactly what grouping of instruments are playing that tune.

I think it’s a harpsichord and bells (like a glockenspiel). Anyone ever performed the piece? Am I even close?

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**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tchaikovsky-what-instruments-are-playing-here/46214/2 "2000-12-18T20:36:18Z")

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Close, sort of. It’s a [celeste](http://members.aol.com/ssn14notes/Celeste.jpg) which is sort of like a giant glockenspiel with a keyboard.

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**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tchaikovsky-what-instruments-are-playing-here/46214/3 "2000-12-18T20:44:28Z")

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I’ve seen a celeste played, and that is one strange instrument. It was positioned on the stage in such a way that the audience could see how it worked. It was fascinating.

Robin

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tchaikovsky-what-instruments-are-playing-here/46214/4 "2000-12-18T21:37:38Z")

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Good call on the _celesta_, **pldennison**. The other instrument that stands out in the orchestration is the bass clarinet, which does that rapid little downward run.

In the textbooks on orchestration I once studied, the “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy” is often highlighted. That’s how I knew from your subject line which piece you were asking about, even before seeing the thread.