The Serpent
(picture taken by Paul Schmidt from The Serpent Website)
According to many sources, the birthdate of the euphonium, or rather, its forerunners, was in 1590 in Europe. In the church, people held human voices at a greater value than lifeless instruments. As choruses sang hymns, however, "the low end of the chorus" was defficient in sound (Schmidt 1). They needed a powerful instrument to create a volume "possessing a tone quality indistinguishable from the low male voice" (1). This necessity gave birth to the serpent. Although sources cannot agree on the exact creator of the serpent, many attribute French Clergyman Guillame of Auxerre in helping to bring this new instrument to life. The serpent consisted of "conical tubes of wood covered with leather and coiled" in a manner so that the tone holes would be accessible to the player (Phillips 2). The musician would use a shallow cup-shaped mouthpiece made of ivory. The serpent, however, lacked "the dynamic range to become a full-fledged member of the symphony orchestra" (2). Also, it was necessary for the player to have a good ear to correct the inntonation problems (Cottrell 1). This led to the next member in the lineage of the euphonium; the ophicleide.
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