Serpent Forveille in B-flat

Forveille French

Not on view

The serpent, a wide bass brass horn with finger holes that evolved at the end of the sixteenth century, gained importance in band music during the second half of the eighteenth century. Thenceforth, the serpent's unwieldy shape was either modified or converted to upright forms. This version, with four keys and six fingerholes, was designed and first publicly displayed in Paris in 1823.

Serpent Forveille in B-flat, Forveille (French, Paris active 1824–39), Wood, leather, French

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