The harmonium is a portable reed organ used in Southeast Asia to accompany almost every genre of vocal music, but I recently came across an article that exposes another aspect of the instrument. The harmonium is widespread in the musical world of India and can be heard everywhere across the country. However, many modern musicians argue that the harmonium is contradictory to Indian music and the instrument has garnered contempt from both British and Indian music writers.

The three principal objections to the harmonium are as follows: it cannot play legato, its tuning is incorrect, and it is not Indian. The first two controversies are dealt with by those who play the harmonium. They have developed techniques to deal with legato, such as slurring and ornaments; they also use pump pressure as well as the omission of notes to alter pitch. However, the third objection claims that the harmonium is inappropriate for Indian culture because of its non-Indian origin. The writers that claim this usually hide it within complaints of the harmonium’s sound. However, those that speak out against the harmonium rarely actually critique individual performances but instead use the harmonium to reinforce boundaries between the West and India. Writers try to protect the idea of a singular Indian style of music and view the harmonium as a threat to this ideal. The idea of Indian music has remained precious since India gained national sovereignty and the harmonium is a reminder of the western dominance over Indian culture. In times when this ideal was not present, the harmonium has been seen as a quintessentially Indian instrument. However, as time has gone on, the harmonium has been put in a place between Western and Indian music. This has allowed it to both unite and divide Indian music. The instrument is both widely used and condemned for representing a nation united under music as well as one separated from the West by music.