harmonium
Small 19th-century organ whose sound was produced by the vibration of free reeds (thin metal tongues). The vibrations were created by air flow from foot-operated bellows, and lever-action knee swells controlled dynamics. It was invented by Alexandre Debain in Paris, France, in about 1842.
It was widely adopted in Europe and the USA as a home and church instrument. In France and Germany the harmonium flourished as a concert solo and orchestral instrument, being written for by Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Arnold Schoenberg (Herzgewächse/Heart's Bloom, 1907), and Karlheinz Stockhausen (Der Jahreslauf/The Course of the Years, 1977).
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