Of The Songs of Eru and Melkor

The Song of Eru

Instrumental: The Planets, Op. 32: II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace by Gustav Holst

Lyrics:

O Holy Ones with their hums

Hear the soft pound of thine drums.

Hear the melodies of each other

And learn to harmonize with thy brother.

Come together in creation,

Send forth your adoration,

For thou must compose a mighty theme

To fill the Void and make it gleam!

The wonderful Children of Ilúvatar

Shall come in a time known not how far.

We must be prepared

For they must be cared (for),

And we’ll make Arda strong

So that they can belong!

The Song of Melkor

Instrumental: String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110: II. Allegro molto by Dmitri Shostakovich

Lyrics:

The Music of Eru echoes through the void

Yet my melody goes unrecognized!

And the voices of the Ainur,

Who are not as great as I,

Give in to Ilúvatar’s control

Making him the ruler of us all.

I envy this power of one “great man”,

To create and know all

That is to happen in Arda.

Therefore, I shall interweave my own melody

Of harsh and discordant notes!

And to those who harmonize,

Thine minds will become mine

And with these melodies, I will reign supreme!

When choosing an instrumental for the song of Eru, I wanted to find an orchestral instrumental that started off quieter and with less instruments. As the song progresses, more instruments and melodies are introduced, and the music becomes louder, which, to me, perfectly represents the mixing of the songs of each Ainur and the harmonization of each instrument. The song also incorporates those quiet moments in between the louder ones, which keeps a sense of calamity throughout the song as opposed to an overwhelmingly noisy sound. As for the lyrics of Eru’s song, I used an ABAB rhyme scheme to symbolize the fact that Ilúvatar has the fate of Arda all planned out and organized. I also tried to emphasize the process in which the song created Arda, starting out as individual melodies that came together to create a landscape. For the song of Melkor, I found a fast-paced song with a lot of dissonant, “sharp” (or short), notes. Since Melkor was given the gifts of power and knowledge by Eru, the use of primarily string instruments gives a more sophisticated sound to the instrumental, despite the disorderly nature of the song. The lyrics I wrote for the song of Melkor have no particular rhyme scheme to emphasize the chaotic behavior of Melkor. The lyrics themselves highlight Melkor’s envious personality and desire to have control.