Great Music

The Song the Ainur made at the beginning of time under the direction of Eru Ilúvatar. More commonly called the Music of the Ainur, the Great Music was devised by Ilúvatar, but he encouraged the Ainur to create their own music around his central theme. This was taken to an extreme by Melkor, who twisted the Music to his own selfish ends, so that Ilúvatar had to use his own power to prevent the Song from being overwhelmed. When the Music was complete, Ilúvatar revealed a Vision of a world created from it, and then made that Vision into reality. Thus the universe of Eä and the world of Arda were created, and many of the Ainur descended into the new creation. Among them was Melkor, whose corruption of the Great Music brought many evils into the world, and who would eventually be expelled by the other great Ainur, who were known in Arda as the Valar.