Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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SEEPENT SERPETTE 423
discovery of the bassoon by a canon of Ferrara
in the fii-st half of the same century. But there
can be no doubt that about thjs period clerical
musicians employed bsiss reed and brass instruments
for the accompaniment of ecclesiastical
plain-song. Indeed Mersenne, who gives a remarkably
good and complete account of the
Serpent, notices that ' even when played by a
boy it is sufficient to support the voices of twenty
robust monks.' The Serpewt d'^glise is still S.
recognised functionary in French churches, [and
for many years was an indispensable member of
the primitive orchestras which accompanied the
singing in rural churches in England.]
The scale of the Serpent is in the highest
degree capricious, and indeed fortuitous. In
this respect it resembles the bassoon. Mersenne
gives it a compass of seventeen diatonic notes
from 8 -foot D upwards, and intimates that
the intervening chromatics can be obtained by
half-stopping. He does not name the device
of cross - fingering so largely employed on the
bassoon.
Berlioz, who speaks slightingly of it,
states that it is in Bb, and that parts for it
'must be written > whole tone above the real
sound.' The old parts, however, from which
the writer played [in the ' sixties '] at the
Sacred Harmonic Society were all, without
exception, in C.
It is obvious that the Serpent, like every
other instrument with a, cupped mouthpiece,
can produce the usual harmonic series of notes.
These in Mersenne's work seem limited to the
fundamental, its octave, and twelfth. There
would be no difficulty in obtaining a far larger
compass. Liohtenthal' who, as an Italian,
highly values the Serpent, gives its compass as
no less than four full octaves from the Do
bassissimo, which does not '
exist on the pianoforte
(1826), but on the pedal of the organ of
16 feet,' up to the Do of the violin on the third
space. He states, moreover, that the lowest
soimd of Do can only be used from time to time,
'
avendo bisogno di una particolare buona
imboccatura'—requiring a specially good lip.
[As the fundamental note, pedal, or lowest
proper tone of the Serpent was the 8-feet C,
just as it is on the trombone, euphonium, or
ophicleide in C, the statement of Lichtenthal
can only be explained by admitting that certain
players, by a peculiarly loose embouchure, could
produce notes of a forced or constrained pitch
one octave lower than due to the length of tube.
The compass given in the scales and tutors is
three octaves from C to c", with a possible
extension downwards, by slackening the lips,
to B^ and B>.]
It wiU be seen from the woodcut that one
hand being applied to an ascending, and the
other to a descending branch, the usual sequence
of fingering is inverted in the two hands ; the
scale proceeding downwards in the left and
IHzionario deUa Mutica, torn, i
upwards in the right. The Serpent is probably
the only instrument in existence exhibiting so
quaint and unscientific a device. This fact,
and the different lengths of sounding -tube
intervening between the holes—the distance
between the mouthpiece and the first fingerhole
being 44 inches ; between the next three
only about 4 inches in all ; between these and
the next thi-ee for the right hand, 13 inches ;
and from the last hole to the beU, 31 inches ;
making 96 inches, or 8 feet—indicate the great
imperfection of the instrument mechanically
considered, and point to the conclusion that a
good player must have relied more on his
dexterity and on the strength of his embouchure,
as mentioned above, than on the
resources of the instrument itself. Later
makers, however, added a multiplicity of keys,
both above and below, which only complicated
without facilitating performance. It is well
known that the notes D, A, and some others,
the holes for which were the most approximately
correct in position, had far greater force and
correctness than others less accurately planted
on the resonant tube. On the other hand,
owing to the material of the Serpent and to its
bore, its tone was certainly more tender and
less obtrusive than that of the blatant brass
valve -instmments which have replaced it in
the modern orchestra. It is practically disused
except in some few foreign churches, and
forgotten by all but musical antiquaries. A
part for it is however found in the score of
Mendelssohn's overtures 'The Calm Sea and
Prosperous Voyage ' and ' St. Paul, ' in the overtures
to 'Masaniello,' 'The Siege of Corinth'
(between the second and third trombones), and
'
Bienzi. ' It is also found in the score of ' I
Vespri Siciliani.' It is usually replaced in
performance by the ophicleide. A Yorkshireman
of Richmond, named Hurworth, who
played in the private band of George III.,
could execute elaborate flute variations with
perfect accuracy on this unwieldy instrument.
There is a Method for the Serpent^ containing
studies and duets, published by Cocks. The
only concerted music set down to it seems to
have been originally intended for the bassoon.
A Contra ' Serpent ' was shown in the Exhibition
of 1851, made by Jordan of Liverpool. It
was in Eb of the 16-foot octave. It was however
too unwieldy to be carried by the player,
and required independent support. Another
modification of this instrument was invented by
Beacham and played on by Prospere in JuUien's
orchestra. It was named the Serpentcleide,
and was essentially an ophicleide with a body
of wood instead of brass, [w. h. s. ; with
additions in square brackets by D. J. B.l
SEKPETTE, Henri Chables Amoine
Gaston, French composer, born at Nantes
Nov. 4, 1846, began life as an advocate, but
gave up the bar for music. He was a pupil of