Серпент: История и возрождение старинного духового инструмента.

Wooden S shaped early brass instrument

, Brass instrument, Brass
, Aerophone

| hornbostel sachs = 423.213
| hornbostel sachs desc = labrosones with fingerholes with wide conical bore
| developed = Late 16th century
| range = Range of the serpent; notes below C₂ are obtained with the embouchure
| articles =
| musicians =
, Clifford Bevan
, Bernard Fourtet
, Michel Godard
, Phil Humphries
, Alan Lumsden
, Christopher Monk
, Andrew van der Beek
, Steve Wick
, Douglas Yeo

| builders = hlist |
| Christopher Monk Instruments
| Early Music Shop
| Pierre Ribo
| Stephan Berger Swiss serpent maker Stephan Berger in collaboration with French jazz musician Michel Godard has developed an improved serpent based on studying well preserved museum instruments, and also makes a lightweight model from carbon fibre. English serpent player and musicologist Clifford Bevan remarks that Berger's instruments are much improved, finally allowing players to approach the serpent "in partnership rather than in combat".

[[File:MIMEd L 2929. Contrabass serpent, nominal pitch 16 ft C (against door). png|thumb|Contrabass serpent, c. 1840. St Cecilia's Hall, University of Edinburgh During the serpent's modern revival, two more contrabass serpents were built in the 1990s by Christopher Monk's workshop. Based on the original serpent ordinaire form, they were called "George" and "George II". The first, commissioned by musicologist and serpent player Philip Palmer, is now owned by American trombonist and serpent player Douglas Yeo and features in some of his serpent recordings.

There is little direct material or documentary evidence for the exact origin of the serpent. French historian Jean Lebeuf claimed in his 1743 work Mémoires Concernant l'Histoire Ecclésiastique et Civile d’Auxerre that the serpent was invented in 1590 by Edmé Guillaume, a clergyman in Auxerre, France. Although this account is often accepted, some scholars suppose instead that the serpent evolved from the large, S shaped bass cornetts that were in use in Italy in the 16th century. It was certainly used in France since the early 17th century to strengthen the cantus firmus and bass voices of choirs in plainchant. This original traditional serpent was known as the serpent ordinaire or serpent d'église Around the middle of the 18th century, the serpent began to appear in chamber ensembles, and later in orchestras. Mozart used two serpents in the orchestra for his 1771 opera Ascanio in Alba.

Towards the end of the 18th century, the increased popularity of the serpent in military bands drove the subsequent development of the instrument to accommodate marching or mounted players. In England, a distinct military serpent was developed which had a more compact shape with tighter curves, added extra keys to improve its intonation, and metal braces between the bends to increase its rigidity and durability. In France around the same time several makers produced a serpent militaire initially developed by Piffault (by whose name they are also known) that arranges the tubing vertically with an upward turned bell, reminiscent of a tenor saxophone.

Several vertical configurations of the serpent, generally known as upright serpents or bass horns, were developed in the early 19th century. Retaining the same six tone holes and fingering of the original serpent, these instruments resemble the bassoon, with jointed straight tubes that fit into a short U shaped butt joint, and an upward pointing bell.

Among the first of the upright serpents to appear was the basson russe, , although it was neither Russian nor a bassoon. The name is possibly a corruption of basson prusse since they were taken up by the Prussian army bands of the time. These instruments were built mostly in Lyon and often had the buccin style decorative zoomorphic bells popular in France at the time, shaped and painted like a dragon or serpent head. Appearing around the same time in military bands was the serpent à pavillon which had a normal brass instrument bell, similar in flare to the later ophicleide.

The English bass horn, developed by French musician and inventor Louis Alexandre Frichot in London in 1799, had an all metal V shaped construction, described by German composer Felix Mendelssohn as resembling a watering can. He admired its sound however, and wrote for the instrument in several of his works, including his fifth symphony and the overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream. The bass horn was popular in civic and military bands in Britain and Ireland, and also spread back into orchestras in Europe, where it influenced the inventors of both the ophicleide and later the Baß Tuba.

The serpent appears as serpentone in early 19th century Italian operatic scores by composers such as Spontini, Rossini, and Bellini. It solved a perennial problem of the serpent, its difficult and indistinct B♮ notes. The instrument is built a semitone lower in B♮ and adds a large open tone hole that keeps the instrument in C until its key is pressed, closing the tone hole and producing a clear and resonant B♮.

The era of upright serpents was brief, spanning the first half of the 19th century from their invention to their replacement by the ophicleide and subsequent valved brass instruments. German opera composer Richard Wagner used a serpent as a third bassoon in his 1840 opera Rienzi, but by the 1869 première of his Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle he was writing his lowest brass parts for tuba and contrabass trombone. Consequently, the serpent had all but disappeared from ensembles by 1900. The serpent has enjoyed a modern revival of interest and manufacture since the mid 20th century. Christopher Monk began building his own replica cornetts and serpents and playing them in historically informed performances. In 1968 he and a colleague devised a method of constructing them inexpensively from a composite wood resin material, which helped to raise interest in these instruments and increase their availability. In 1976 he established the London Serpent Trio with English players Andrew van der Beek and Alan Lumsden, performing new works and historical arrangements, both serious and whimsical, throughout Europe and North America. At the same time in France, historical instrument specialist Bernard Fourtet and jazz musician Michel Godard began promoting use of the serpent and established an academy for young serpent players.

There is no real standard for the serpent's range, which varies according to the instrument and the player, but it typically covers the three octaves from C two octaves below middle C to C. Proficient players can also extend the range downwards to A1 or even F1 by fingering the low C note with all holes covered, and "lipping" down with the embouchure.