The Music of Hindostan c9.s2.97

c9.s2.97

Here the harmonies of the third and fourth bars wrench the melody up a major tone,¹ whereas the scale would demand in the third bar a minor tone; so that for two bars—the words ‘strebt’s hinauf! hinauf’—the voice is travelling at a pitch a fraction higher than normal, and admirably illustrates the meaning of the text, while at ‘es schweben’ it drops back (again owing to the harmonies) to normal pitch.