Serpent in Louis Joseph Francker’s treatise "The basic range of all wind instruments"

The article is devoted to the description of the serpent — an instrument that existed from the fifteenth to the middle of the nineteenth century and was intended to accompany the choir in the Catholic Church and support the intonation of the choristers — in Louis Joseph Franker’s treatise "The Basic Band of All Wind Instruments". The main idea of the author of the treatise is to introduce the serpent into the bass group of the traditional symphony orchestra. The treatise went out of print in 1772, during the Classical era, when a new composition of the orchestra was being formed and experimentation was not uncommon. The article contains a translation of the original text of Francker’s treatise on the serpent. The author explains the instrument’s features, range, sound production, expressive properties of the registers, cadences, methods and techniques of playing it. The treatise is intended primarily for composers.