Music as Analogy: Melkor and the “Discord”

In Ainulindale, Eru demanded the Ainur to make a Great Music together, in harmony. Thus I wonder if we may connect the Ainur’s Music with the classical music of real life, as an extended metaphor, when discussing the fall of Melkor. Christopher Tolkien did not choose to add a frame to the story of creation, but the elves who noted down the tale may have used music as a way of understanding in the first place, since none of them were there to witness Creation and could not perceive what it was like in the Void, or outside of the World.

At first, it is remarked that the Ainurs sang “only each alone, or but few together”, which seems that they are only capable of  singing monotonic tones or  melodies together in the same pitch. Perhaps it resembles the parallel octaves etc. in unison or round, such as the Parallel organum. Tolkien used the word “unison” to describe the state of the Ainur’s Music, when they gained deeper understanding of their brethren.

Comparing it with the music history, gradually the Ainur performed more sophisticatedly. Instead of simply singing in unison, they would move gradually toward a more complex polyphonic music, featuring two or more lines at the same line, while each may be considered as a melody of its own. Their voices are thus balanced and varied, in melody and rhythm.

When Illuvatar declared that they should make “in harmony together a Great Music”, the voices of the Ainur became greatly diverse. No longer they sang in unison, but like “unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets, and voils and organs…” These are the metaphors of the elves, since it would be hard to imagine any being singing as if they are the instrument themselves. But,  in analogy, the singing of the Ainur at this stage may be compared to a symphony orchestra, where people form parts and follow the melodic direction of that specific part. The Ainurs who lead and those who follow may be differed into the Valar and the Maiar.

If such is the real-life representation of Illuvatar’s Great Music, what may be suggested about Melkor and his discordant ideas? One major use of dissonance in classical music is to separate various harmonic intervals by inviting uneven pitches so that each interval has its own sense. Intervals that sound harsh and do not blend in are the dissonant intervals. Melkor might have started by creating a dissonant interval when he had the thought of heightening himself, refusing to be in accord with others.

But Melkor did not stop by creating the discord alone. Others who were near him were also affected by his music and decided to “attune their music to his”, which reminds me that another way of breaking the harmony is to add a tone or chord to the music that is not in the original key, or create a out-of-tune division of a whole tune, so that it sounds higher or lower of the original version. The latter sparks me as a possibility when I read Letter 153, in which Tolkien explains that Morgoth made the Orcs as a mockery of the Children of God. It is not Creation, but a distortion of the original being, twisted and ugly. Melkor, when he became to glorify himself, gradually lost the ability to create, shown especially when he took form and descended into the World. As a metaphor, here, the dissonance he and his followers created may have been just a mockery as well.

Ironic that although Melkor tried hard to adopt his dissonance for his own use, the tone, along with the harmony of other Ainur, becomes part of the whole.

It may be quite difficult to create dissonances in a piece of music in the real world, since the means described earlier are few and demand a certain degree of skill, or, in this case, cunningness. Melkor was the Ainur that had the greatest power then, equipped with a wide understanding of music and knowledge, so his place and ability suited well with the discord he created. He may have planned his melody with great intention, leading others along, not just by adding a few notes therefore. 

But the power of Illuvatar was not defeated by the dissonance Melkor created. Instead, the Great Music became more sorrowful, more diverse, sometimes full of chaos, yet on a whole, more beautiful, with his influence, which was of course beyond his expectation. Just like an Orchestra, dissonance was a part of the music, and may be used to heighten the diversity and beauty of the piece when mastered carefully. The World had Evil, Shadows, loss and wrath, because of Melkor, but his was not the Creator, and the World could not have ended so. Through the sadness, there were harmony, glory and hope. Illuvatar showed mercy when he chose to encompass all of the Music, and he again demonstrated this godlike mercy when Melkor made the Orcs. Although they were created as distorted version of elves and men, they still came into being and were permitted to live.

All the Ainurs are thoughts of the Creator, and Melkor was the one that had the most power and was most gifted. His music was tolerated and woven into the greater Music that he was not aware of. This explains the limitation of Ainur’s Free Well. They may be given the choice to become evil and have the chance to act out their parts, each choice came with a price. Like a discordant melody, though it may lead for a while and threaten to let other’s astray, harmonious love shall ultimately take its place.

--JX