Harmonium

Harmonium was a Québécois symphonic-folk band that released the 1974/75 albums Harmonium and Les Cinq Saisons on Celebration, followed by the double-album L’heptade on CBS in 1976.

Members: Serge Fiori (guitar, flute, vocals), Michel Normandeau (guitar, vocals, 1972-76), Louis Valois (guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals, 1973-78), Serge Locat (keyboards, 1975-77), Pierre Daigneault (flute, saxophone, clarinet, 1975-76), Robert Stanley (guitar, vocals, 1976-78), Denis Farmer (drums, 1976-78), Libert Subirana (flute, saxophone, clarinet, 1976-78), Monique Fauteux (keyboards, vocals, 1976-78), Jeff Fisher (keyboards, 1977-78)

Harmonium sprung from a songwriting partnership between singing guitarists Serge Fiori and Michel Normandeau, who met during a music theater meeting in late 1972. Fiori hailed from the garage-psych combo Les Comtes Harbourg, which issued the 1968 single “Jeune Fille de Couvent” (b.w “L’Humanite”). As a member of Morphus, he played on a 1971 album credited to Guy Trépanier.

In 1973, Fiori and Normandeau teamed with bassist Louis Valois and named their project Harmonium after the 18th century reed organ. After some months on the local cafe circuit, they aired three originals on Montreal’s CHOM-FM.

Discography:

• Harmonium (1974)
• Les Cinq Saisons (1975)
• L’heptade (1976)
• En tournée (live, 1980)

Sources:

• Discogs: Harmonium