“The Expressive Organ within Us”

Abstract

A variety of harmoniums populate Honoré de Balzac's novels, including the physharmonica, the orgue expressif, the panharmonicon, and the accordion. The sounds of these instruments typically illustrate unusual mental states. Balzac's musical fantasies drew on contemporaneous medical practice, which between 1820 and 1850 used the harmonium regularly to help treat nervous disorders. The linking of the harmonium with nervous effects resembles earlier associations of the glass harmonica with pathology. However, the medical implementation of the harmonium differs from this tradition both in the instrument's generally positive connotations and in the later trajectory of its use.