  We study the time-harmonic Galbrun equation describing the propagation of
sound in the presence of a steady background flow. With additional rotational
and gravitational terms these equations are also fundamental in helio- and
asteroseismology as a model for stellar oscillations. For a simple damping
model we prove well-posedness of these equations, i.e. uniqueness, existence,
and stability of solutions under mild conditions on the parameters (essentially
subsonic flows). The main tool of our analysis is a generalized Helmholtz
decomposition.
