Name of Instrument: serpent militaire

Maker / Brand:

Stearns Catalog #: 0903

Country of Origin: Florence, Italy

Region of Origin: Europe

Instrument Category: Aerophone

Date of Fabrication: late-19th C.

Location: AER P 1

Description: This instrument comes to the Stearns Collection from a highly questionable source--Leopoldo Franciolini. Many Franciolini instruments are forgeries or interesting hybrids of original instruments and scrap wood. In this case, the body of this fraudulent Serpent Militaire is made of leather-covered pine with a brass crook. Its form is a figure-eight; the six finger holes are arbitrarily spaced.

Legitimate serpents were originally used in the church choirs of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to undergird the singing, and especially to fortify the sound of Gregorian chant. It later appeared in military bands where it functioned as a bass cornet until it was eventually replaced by valved brass instruments. The instrument was originally held vertically, but during the 18th century, players began to favor a horizontal position for both church and military band performances.

Research: Prof. James M. Borders and Stearns Staff