The Music of Hindostan c17.118

c17.118

This cannot be done in Indian melodies because each note has a fixed meaning, not, as with us, one assignable by the harmony at will. In them an identical figure, when it is transferred to another part of the scale, takes on a new meaning, because its relationship to the *amśa* has been altered. Consequently a principle of structure is then lost to Indian music. The Hindu melody has to get what symmetry of structure it can—and it will be seen presently that this may be a good deal—in spite of the fixity of the note values. As a result their melodies have, apart from the fact that they are of an extempore nature, less cohesion than ours.