Serpent

Serpent (Fr.) (Ger.: Serpent, Schlangenrohr; It.: serpentone; Sp.: serpentón), 1. woodwind instr. of bass register, so named because of its serpentine form, and said to have been invented in 1590 by Canon Edme Guillaume of Auxerre, France. Recent investigation of claims for greater antiquity and It. origin of the instr. have failed to upset this attribution. The serpent consists of an S-shaped wooden tube of extremely wide bore, the shape being necessary in order to bring the fingerholes of so…