Orchestra excerpts for serpent

The serpent is the earliest low-pitched labrosone (lip-reed resonating aerophone) which includes some method of creating specific, reproducible pitches. Originally developed to support the cantus firmus of a church choir, by early nineteenth century it was being used by orchestral and operatic composers attempting to strengthen their lower wind sections. The instrument used in these recordings of music from Hector Berlioz, Felix Mendelssohn and Richard Wagner is a serpent ordinare with three keys, made by Pierre Ribo in Brussels in 2018, copying an original anonymous instrument built in ca. 1801. 0:00 Hector Berlioz: Messe solennelle (1825) 0:57 Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique (1830) 1:44 Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 "Reformation" (1832) 2:37 Felix Mendelssohn: Paulus (1836) 3:45 Richard Wagner: Rienzi (1842) Recorded in Berlin in April 2020 For more information on this project, visit https://www.jackadlermckean.eu/the-history-of-the-tuba