tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post4450535625988611302..comments2023-11-07T06:20:12.181-08:00Comments on Tolkien: Medieval and Modern: Creating Metaphors for Creation and Creators"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"http://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-91139609080445900862014-05-05T10:03:03.808-07:002014-05-05T10:03:03.808-07:00Echoing what others have said, this was an excelle...Echoing what others have said, this was an excellent post. It's been difficult to craft a response, as I've been too busy listening to concerto's since I've read it. I'm especially interested in your grappling with how to place Eru within this metaphor of a concerto. When you say that Eru seems a step too removed from the actual progression of the music to be regarded as a conductor, I had the impulse to assert the exact opposite. To my eyes, Eru seems almost too deeply intertwined with the music to be considered a conductor or a composer. I think especially of the Third Theme, and the sort of swelling upwards of the music (forgive my inexactness in musical terminology) when Eru finally completes the theme and ends the discord of Melkor. The music seems to be not simply a reflection of Eru's plan but a fundamental reflection of who Eru *is*. It may be that I'm simply importing too much medieval philosophy, however, either way it's simply one of the extremely interesting aspects of the Ainulindale that you touch on, and I think your understanding here is a great way to help plumb these. dyingsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02087241514388178221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-41405003308231856092014-05-04T22:52:40.436-07:002014-05-04T22:52:40.436-07:00This post was really lovely, and as a fellow music...This post was really lovely, and as a fellow musician who has also played many concertos I thought your comparisons between the Ainulindalë and the composition/conducting of a concerto were excellent. I completely agree that a composer’s cadenza will never turn out the way he/she expects it to, and comparing a songs cadenza to the task of the Ainur definitely was a clear way to describe creation through music.<br />I’d like to bring up the idea of free will and allowing the Ainur free will, especially in the case of creation. As we have read, allowing messengers to go on their own with their own instructions does not always have positive effects, just as you explained with the Ainu Melkor. When I read that comment, all I could think of was a soloist performing in a grand hall and playing all the wrong notes of a piece, but on purpose if only to take away power from the conductor. Most often we know this is not the case and the soloist just forgot the notes. If that should happen, one wonders what the conductor would do. Most likely try to continue with piece, just as Eru attempted to introduce new themes into the music of creation to overtake Melkor’s theme. But just as you pointed out, Iluvatar is not the conductor, but more the composer, and just like the composer Iluvatar can only attempt to control the players, but giving such power and free will to the messengers can result in catastrophe. Great metaphor!<br />E.Q.<br />"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-64229761785551806632014-05-03T16:27:33.947-07:002014-05-03T16:27:33.947-07:00This is the best description I have ever read of w...This is the best description I have ever read of what Tolkien seems to be describing in the Music of the Ainur! --RLFB"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.com