Harmonium was a Canadian progressive rock band that started in 1972 in Montreal, Quebec. It became one of the most well-known music bands in French Canada during the 1970s.

History

Lead vocalist and guitarist Serge Fiori met Michel Normandeau (vocals and guitar) at a theatre music meeting in November 1972. In 1973, they met bassist Louis Valois and formed the band Harmonium. In November 1973, the group performed their first radio play on CHOM-FM. They played three songs: "Pour un instant," "Un musicien parmi tant d'autres," and "Un refrain parmi tant d'autres." The first two songs were later recorded professionally for their debut album, which had the same name as the band. The third song was a follow-up to "Un musicien parmi tant d'autres" but was not included on the album. A single was released at the time with "Pour un instant" on the A-side and "100,000 Raisons" on the B-side. "100,000 Raisons" was later added to a CD reissue of the album nearly 20 years later. This album was a huge success, and the band performed sold-out shows across Quebec and French Canada.

Although Richard Beaudet joined the band in 1973 as a flute and saxophone player, he did not perform with Harmonium. He was replaced by Pierre Daigneault in April 1974. On April 27, 1974, Harmonium was interviewed and performed on the CBC Radio program The Entertainers. In August 1974, pianist, keyboardist, and synthesizer player Serge Locat joined the band.

Their second album, Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison, better known as Les cinq saisons, was an immediate success. This concept album includes five songs, each representing a season, with the final song introducing a fifth imaginary season through a long instrumental. For this album, the band invited two guest musicians: Judi Richards, who provided vocals on the instrumental "Histoires sans paroles," and Marie Bernard, who played sounds similar to a theremin using a special instrument called a Martenot.

At the Juno Awards in 1976, held on March 15, Harmonium was nominated for Group of the Year, and Les cinq saisons was nominated for Best-Selling Album of the Year. In 2015, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Les cinq saisons at number 36 on its list of the best 50 progressive rock albums and called it the best progressive folk album.

On February 12, 1976, Harmonium signed with Columbia Records' Quebec-based subsidiary, CBS Disques. Drummer Denis Farmer (formerly of Ville Émard Blues Band, Contraction, and Toubabou) joined the band in late February 1976 after meeting Fiori and Valois when they were recruited to play in Bo Diddley's live backing band for a Montreal show on February 13, 1976. The double album L'Heptade was released in November 1976 after months of recording in Fiori's home in Saint-Césaire, Quebec. The songs describe seven stages of consciousness in a person's daily life. The first and final songs, "Comme un fou" and "Comme un sage," show a journey from foolishness to wisdom. Normandeau, who helped write most of the album's material, left shortly after recording began.

The band then embarked on a long tour with 110 shows, spanning from September 1976 to June 1977. The tour was divided into three parts, each with a different set list and presentation. In January 1977, the band added three session musicians from L'Heptade for the second leg of the tour: flute and saxophone player Libert Subirana, pianist and keyboardist Monique Fauteux, and guitarist Robert Stanley (who had previously played with Farmer in Ville Émard Blues Band, Contraction, and Toubabou, and also performed with Diddley's live Montreal band). In February 1977, Harmonium was booked for a 15-date Mexican tour but canceled at the last minute, leading to Stringband replacing them.

Serge Locat later said in an interview that he was not allowed by Fiori to contribute his own compositions to the band. He left in August 1977 to record a solo album but stayed until November 1977 to complete a European tour opening for Supertramp.

After Locat left, the remaining members of Harmonium decided to take a break and focus on other projects. Fiori partnered with Richard Séguin to create the album Deux cents nuits à l'heure, which had been in development for four years and was finally released in May 1978. Several Harmonium members performed as session musicians on the album. Valois produced and performed on an album by Marie-Claire Séguin, which also included Farmer and Stanley.

A planned full American tour in the spring of 1978 did not happen. However, Harmonium was later invited to perform in Berkeley and Los Angeles in September 1978. A team from the National Film Board of Canada filmed these performances, and the footage was released in theaters as Harmonium en Californie in October 1979. Locat's keyboardist role was filled by Yvan Ouellett and later Jeff Fisher.

Fior

Legacy

In August 1980, a live recording of L'heptade, which was made in June 1977 in Vancouver, was released as a double album called Harmonium en tournée.

In 2007, all three studio albums by Harmonium were listed among the 100 greatest Canadian albums of all time in Bob Mersereau’s book The Top 100 Canadian Albums. These were the only French-language albums from Quebec on the list, along with Jean-Pierre Ferland’s Jaune.

A remixed version of L'heptade, called L'heptade XL, was released on November 18, 2016, to mark its fortieth anniversary. This version included a few minutes of new recordings. The original mix of L'heptade was created while the group was touring Quebec and New Brunswick. The remastering better matched the vision of Fiori, who wanted the music to sound more open compared to the original studio mix. A live recording from 1977, titled "C'est dans le noir," was also released on iTunes. This song was recorded at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa during the tour for the album. A film titled Viens voir le paysage, which shows one of these performances, was released on DVD at the same time.

In 2018, the group received honorary Prix Félix awards at the 40th annual Gala de l'ADISQ. Although Harmonium is considered one of the most influential bands in Quebec music history, the band had already broken up before the Félix awards were established, so they had never won a Félix before.

In December 2019, a remix of the original 16-track master tapes of Harmonium’s first album, titled Harmonium XLV, was released. This version included a different version of the hit song "Pour un instant." A reissue of Les cinq saisons was also announced, but as of 2024, it had not been released.

In 2020, Simon Leclerc created a full orchestral version of all of Harmonium’s music and recorded it with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. This album surprised Serge Fiori, who called it a masterpiece and said it represented the ultimate evolution of his music. He noted in an interview with Radio-Canada that the orchestral arrangements likely reflected how his music was meant to be played from the beginning. The album, titled Histoires sans paroles : Harmonium symphonique, is available only through mail order or digital download.

Discography

• Harmonium (1974; re-released as Harmonium XLV in 2019)
• Les cinq saisons (1975)
• L'Heptade (1976; re-released as L'heptade XL in 2016)

• Harmonium en tournée (1980)

• "Pour un instant" / "100,000 Raisons" (1974)
• "Dixie" / "En pleine face" (1975)
• "C'est dans le noir" (2016)

• Harmonium en Californie (1979) (NFB)
• Viens voir le paysage (2016)

Members

• Serge Fiori – lead vocals, backing vocals, twelve-string acoustic guitar, twelve-string electric guitar, six-string acoustic guitar, six-string electric guitar, mandolin, harp zither, flute, western concert flute, cymbals, bass drum, spoons (from November 1972 to 1978)
• Michel Normandeau – backing vocals, twelve-string acoustic guitar, six-string acoustic guitar, harmonica, accordion, dulcimer (from November 1972 to Summer 1976)
• Louis Valois – backing vocals, electric bass guitar, acoustic piano, electric piano, Yamaha organ, Fender Rhodes piano, Moog Taurus (from 1973 to 1979)
• Richard Beaudet – flute, saxophone, clarinet (from 1973 to 1974)
• Pierre Daigneault – western concert flute, piccolo, soprano saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, recorder (from April 1974 to 1976)
• Serge Locat – piano, grand piano, electric piano, mellotron, synthesizer, Yamaha organ, pipe organ (from August 1974 to November 1977)
• Denis Farmer – drums, percussion, congas (from February 1976 to 1979)
• Libert Subirana – backing vocals, alto flute, electric alto flute, soprano flute, alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet (from January 1977 to 1979)
• Monique Fauteux – backing vocals, piano, Fender Rhodes piano (from January 1977 to 1979)
• Robert Stanley – six-string electric guitar (from January 1977 to 1979)
• Yvan Ouellet – piano, keyboards, synthesizers (from August 1978 to September 1978)
• Jeff Fisher – piano, keyboards, synthesizers (from September 1978 to 1979)