in the Haravijaya 6.33,

a series of verses begins in which Śiva is praised in musicological terms, starting with the Sāmaveda recitation: "Oh Guṇagaura, by Brahman who is singing the sāman which is of many paths [and] in which excellence of a fivefold division has been obtained, which clearly has hiṃkriyā at the beginning and nidhana at the end, it is you only in the world who are being sung." Utpala comments: "he guṇagaura, brahmaṇā bahuvartma sāma gāyatā tvam eva gīyase, paramātmasvarūpatvāt. sphuṭaṃ kṛtvā hiṃkriyāditayā hiṃkārāditvena nidhanāntatayā ca śritaṃ pañcavidhayā bhaktyā sauṣṭhavaṃ yatra. tad uktaṃ: “āvāhalakṣmā hiṃkāraḥ prastāvaḥ pratihārakaḥ | udgītho nidhanaś ceti pañcoktāḥ sāmagītayaḥ ||” iti. kecin nidhanaśabdasya madhyārthābhidhāyitvād ādimadhyānteṣu hiṃkriyety āhuḥ ||" Now I have not been able to locate the verse he quotes, listing the five sāma-gītis and would appreciate if some Sāmaveda expert could enlighten me about it. Also the last sentence is a riddle to me, "some [presumably other commentators on this verse] say that hiṃkriyā is in the beginning, the middle and the end, because the word 'nidhana' [(technical term of one of these components of the sāman chant, lit. 'end'] means 'middle'". Can anybody make any more sense out of this?

Best,

Peter