The Serpent

(bass cornett)

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But the true bass of the cornett is performed with the serpent, so that one can say that one without the other is a body without a soul.

Mersenne, 1636






The serpent was probably invented in 1590 by Edme Guillaume, a canon at Auxerre. It was used in sacred music to reinforce low men's voices. When well played, it blends with voices and gives a depth to the choral sound. During the next two hundred years after its invention, it was used as a military band instrument and later evolved into the ophecleide and tuba.

 
click for serpent sound (wav)

The serpent has six finger holes arranged in two sets of three with a fundamental note of C. Note that without a hole for the thumb, the b and the c at the top of the each octave are both fingered the same, with the difference in pitch being made by lip adjustment. As with the cornett and lizard , it takes great skill and practice to get a good sound since every note depends on the player's correct embouchure and pitch accuracy. Only the fundamental has much clarity of sound. Chromatics are obtained by half-opening the finger holes or by fork fingering. The conical tube of the serpent is over six feet in length. Its construction is similar to that of the smaller cornetts and it has an elbow shaped crook to bring the mouthpiece to the player's lips. The wood body (often walnut) is sometimes made from several fairly short pieces joined together and covered with leather; other times, glued up from two complete halves of hollowed out blocks of wood. Like the lizard, the serpentine shape of the instrument brings the finger holes and mouthpiece within reach of the player. Its range can extend to three octaves.

Musica Antiqua's collection includes a replica by Monk. The crook is brass; the mouthpiece is ivory.
 

serpent side view
Musica Antiqua Instruments

Additional Resources:

  • The Serpent Website
  • M Mersenne: Harmonie uneverselle (Paris, 1636/r1963)
  • A. Kircher: Musurgia universalis (Rome, 1650/r1970)
  • Imbert (de Sens): Nouvelle methode de plain-chant (Paris, 1780)
  • J. W. Callcott: The Serpent (MS, GB-Lhm Add. 27681, vol. xxxi, c1802)
  • J. B. Metoyen: Methode de serpent (MS, F-Pc, c1810)
  • A. Hardy: Methode de serpent (Paris, 1815)
  • Hermenge: Methode de serpent ordinaire (Paris, 1816)
  • F. W. Galpin: Old English Instuments of Music (London, 1910)
  • J. Westrup: 'Sidelights on the Serpent', MT, lxviii (1927)
  • H. Bouasse: Les instuments a vent (Paris, 1929)
  • A. Carse: Musical Wind Instruments (London, 1939)
  • A. Baines: Woodwind Instruments and their History (London, 1957)
  • P. Bate: 'Some Further Notes on Serpent Technology', GSJ, xxxii (1979)