galadhremmin:“Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets,

galadhremmin:

“Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets, and viols and organs, and like unto countless choirs singing with words, began to fashion the theme of Ilúvatar to a great music; and a sound arose of endless interchanging melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and into the heights, and the places of the dwelling of Ilúvatar were filled to overflowing, and the music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it was not void.

(…)

Therefore I say: Eä! Let these things Be! And I will send forth into the Void the Flame Imperishable, and it shall be at the heart of the World, and the World shall Be; and those of you that will may go down into it.’ And suddenly the Ainur saw afar off a light, as it were a cloud with a living heart of flame; and they knew that this was no vision only, but that Ilúvatar had made a new thing: Eä, the World that Is.’

Excerpts from Ainulindalë,inThe Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien.

Paintings by Lithuanian composer and painter Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875 - 1911), from his Creation of the World series. I felt these paintings would go very well with the sound that ‘goes beyond hearing’ and creates the world in Tolkien’s creation story.

Čiurlionis was a synaesthete whose perception of music and colour were linked.

“He was also interested in theories which analysed imaginary visions and perceptions, and discussions how to activate the creative power of imagination. Čiurlionis’ oeuvre emphasises his predisposition to philosophical issues: man as part of the Universe, man’s relation with the Absolute (deity, ruler, Rex). He investigated these themes in a number of paintings among which the most significant are Creation of the World(1905–1906)” (source)

Drafts of a tone poem with the same name also survive! Sadly Čiurlionis died at only 35, having produced over 400 pieces of music and 300 paintings in his short life.