Serpent (instrument) - Variations

Variations

There are two main types of serpent: curved (serpentine, or double-S, shaped) and straight/upright (the tube is mostly straight, but is folded back on itself in the middle, much like a bassoon). Within the curved style, there are two variations; Church (also called French) and Military (also called English). The Church serpent is the original type, popularized in France, and is distinguished by gentle, sweeping curves and little (if any) metal reinforcements. The Military serpent was primarily made in England, and its characteristics include having tighter bends and a slightly more compact overall size as a result, with lots of metal bands and stays between the tubing. Furthermore, there are several different sizes besides the common "church" Serpent, including Contrabass ("anaconda"), Tenor ("serpent") and Soprano ("worm"). Only the original bass size, and possibly the tenor, were made during the serpent's heyday. The soprano is a fanciful modern variant, and the contrabass is based on a single known original made after the serpent was already fading in popularity.

From its beginning as an instrument held vertically between one's knees with both palms facing down, Hermenge (in his serpent method - Paris, 1817) suggested a horizontal playing position that rested in the right hand palm faced upward. This position was adopted by English military serpents and the instrument was made of a more robust construction (owing to marching or riding on horseback) with thicker walls of the wood and metal stays between the "S" bends of the serpent. The "English bass horn" was a variant form of upright serpent of metal consisting of a tube folded back on itself (rather like the modern bassoon). Mendelssohn scored for the English bass horn in the first edition of his "Midsummer Night's Dream" although the ophicleide was substituted with his consent after the English bass horn fell rapidly from favor. The Italian form of upright serpent, or corno di basso, came to be abbreviated as "gimbasso" or "cimbasso" or other variants, which even today leads to great confusion with a modern "cimbasso," a contrabass valve trombone.

Coeffet (Paris, active 1810-1845) invented an "ophimonocleide," an upright serpent with six holes and a single key (ophi = serpent, mono = one, kleis = key/covering). Upright serpents called the "basson Russe " (often referred to as the "Russian bassoon")—neither Russian nor a form of bassoon—often had a zoomorphic head like the buccin.), The "serpent Forveille" (pronounced "serpent forvae" or "forvay" and named after its inventor) featured a small receptacle in the bocal to collect condensation that results from the warm breath of the player. Whereas other upright serpents usually had metal bells and either a metal or wooden body, the Serpent Forveille was half wood on the part from the middle up to the bell, and metal from the middle to the mouthpiece. Gradually keys were added to serpents (the most appear to have been 14, on instruments made by Thomas Key (London, c. 1830) on display at the Museum of Welsh Life in Cardiff, Wales (another specimen is owned but not displayed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City). The extraordinary contrabass serpent (in nominal CC) made by the Wood brothers in Huddersfield, England, c. 1840) has all of its holes covered by keys but, owing to the varying sizes of the holes and "chimneys" extending from each hole, which are in turn covered by flat keys, is really more of a wooden contrabass ophicleide in serpentine shape.

The ophicleide (again, ophis = serpent, kleis = key/covering, therefore "keyed serpent",) was patented in France by Halary in 1821.