Berlioz's Grand Traité d’Instrumentation et
d’Orchestration Modernes was first published in 1843/4. In this book, he had
this to say about the harmonium (melodium):(...) "Since the tone production of the melodium is rather slow, as is the case with the pipe organ, it is more suited for the legato style than any other, and very appropriate for religious music, for gentle and tender melodies in a slow tempo.
Pieces that have a sprightly character, that are vehement or petulant, display in my view when performed on the melodium the bad taste of the player, or the ignorance of the composer, or the ignorance and bad taste of both at once.
It has been M. Alexandre’s aim to give to the sounds of the melodium a dreamy and religious character, and to make them capable of reproducing all the inflexions of the human voice and of the majority of instruments, and he has succeeded in his aim."(...)
Berlioz wrote Trios Morceaux pour l'Orgue Melodium (1845)
Liszt's works for solo harmonium were all of a
religious nature, and all composed while he was living in Rome. They were
written between 1860-1880, a time when he was looking to reform Church music. A
non-liturgical piece is Elegie No.1 (1874) for Cello, Piano, Harp
and Harmonium.
