INDIA, July 27, 2023 (Daily Music Roll): It is known to everyone that the harmonium is an integral part of Indian Music, regardless of the genre. Starting from folk and classical songs to the mainstream Bollywood; harmonium has been a part of everything. While Hindustani Gharanas are enriched with the tune of harmonium, its wide use can be found in devotional music by all religions in India but mainly with the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. However, the origin of the harmonium is not actually from India. A keyboard instrument that is fixed in a box and develops sound when air is blown through reeds; it was first patented by Alexandre Debain who invented the instrument in France in 1940. Unlike an organ, the harmonium is quite easy to carry and its portability allowed it to be a part of the world since taking it on a voyage was no big deal.

Music Historian and Writer, Manek Premchand said, “Brought to India by French missionaries in the 19th century, the harmonium took no time to blend beautifully into the warp and weft of the Indian music scene,” and further added, “Its euphonious sounds have a universal feel to them, too, adding to its appeal.” However, at the peak of the Indian independence movement, the instrument faced banishment due to the activities of anti-colonialists. As a result, several orthodox music institutions considered it a foreign music instrument and campaigned against its use. One of the biggest examples would be the author of the Indian National Anthem, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who considered it “the bane of Indian music.” The instrument was banned for quite a time in his residential school of Shantiniketan.

More of this history at source.
https://www.dailymusicroll.com/entertainment/the-journey-of-harmonium-started-in-france-and-ended-up-in-indian-music.html

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