voix céleste

music

Also known as: vox angelica

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Last updated

July 14, 2026

Quick Summary

A "voix céleste" is a specific type of organ stop that produces a wavering or tremulous tone. This effect is achieved either by using two ranks of narrow pipes tuned slightly apart or by tuning a single rank slightly flat in conjunction with a normally tuned stop. The name itself is French for "heavenly voice".1

This stop is typically found on a swell organ and contributes to the rich and varied sounds an organ can produce. Organs are complex keyboard instruments where sound is generated by pipes or reeds, controlled by the organist. The "voix céleste" adds a unique, ethereal quality to the organ's overall sound palette.123

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keyboard instrument
Italy
…forerunner of the similarly constructed voix céleste stop popular in the 19th-century romantic organ. The scale of the classic Italian principale was not much different from its counterpart in the north, but its mouth was narrower, its voicing more delicate, and there was a notable lack of chiff. Reeds were…
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…forerunner of the similarly constructed voix céleste stop popular in the 19th-century romantic organ. The scale of the classic Italian principale was not much different from its counterpart in the north, but its mouth was narrower, its voicing more delicate, and there was a notable lack of chiff. Reeds were…
Read More