Harmonium

Harmonium existed for only five years before the musicians chose to disband at precisely the right moment, convinced they had articulated everything they wished to express with maximum clarity and impact. This left behind three studio albums and one live recording, each standing as a substantial artistic statement, while the group’s overall imprint on Quebec rock and the wider culture proved enormous.

A folk trio formed the group’s nucleus, consisting of guitarists Serge Fiori and Michel Normandeau together with bassist Louis Valois. Already supporting himself as a ballroom guitarist in his father Georges Fiori’s orchestra, a revered presence in Montreal’s Italian community, Fiori met journalist and drama actor Normandeau in 1972. Once Valois joined, the three began performing as the folk guitar trio Harmonium during summer 1973. Appearances at singer-songwriter cafés generated notice, and after a live radio broadcast Quality Records offered a contract.

The self-titled debut, cut by the trio alone, appeared in April 1974. By summer’s end it had become a strong commercial success, with “Pour un Instant” and “Un Musicien Parmi Tant d’Autres” emerging as FM staples. Following a provincial tour the band returned to the studio, where Fiori’s more ambitious conceptions for Si On Avait Besoin d’une Cinquième Saison prompted the addition of reedsman Pierre Daigneault and keyboardist Serge Locat. Issued in 1975, the album displayed leanings toward mellow progressive rock and metaphysical lyrics.

After further touring and a sabbatical year the musicians regrouped without Daigneault. Fiori had developed an ambitious seven-song suite addressing the seven states of consciousness. Although Normandeau contributed to the lyrics, the lead singer’s burst of creativity and focused musical direction gradually marginalized him, prompting his departure. Drummer Denis Farmer, flutist Libert Subirana, guitarist Robert Stanley, and vocalist/second keyboardist Monique Fauteux were brought in, while Neil Chotem composed and arranged the orchestral bridges linking the pieces. The resulting double album L’Heptade surfaced on CBS in late 1976, setting a fresh benchmark for Quebec rock and securing minor-classic status within progressive rock through its universal theme. The band toured across Canada, reaching Vancouver in June 1977 where the live set En Tournée was recorded, and performed at Berkeley College of Music in California, footage preserved in the National Film Board of Canada documentary Harmonium en Californie. European dates supporting Supertramp also took place.

Once several attempts to lay foundations for a new album revealed that Fiori and his colleagues had already delivered their finest work, a late-1977 press release announced the dissolution. Fiori subsequently recorded the duo album Deux Cents Nuits à l’Heure with guitarist Richard Séguin, backed by former band members, in 1978. The same musicians appeared together again on Chotem’s Live au El Casino, released in 1979. Around the same time Normandeau and Locat each issued solo albums, Jouer in 1979 and Transfert in 1978.