What was the name of J.R.R. Tolkien’s invented cosmic music that begins the creation story in The Silmarillion?

The Music of the Ainur is the cosmic music that begins the creation story in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion.

The concept appears in Ainulindalë, the opening section of The Silmarillion. Eru Ilúvatar, the supreme creator, gives the Ainur themes to develop through music. Their performance produces a vision of the world, while the discord introduced by Melkor becomes part of the larger history.

The name is often rendered in Tolkien’s invented language as Ainulindalë, meaning the Music of the Ainur. The Ainur are spiritual beings, and the Valar are the group of Ainur who enter the world of Arda. This distinction matters because the music is performed by the wider Ainur, not only by the Valar.

Readers sometimes call the episode simply the creation of Arda, but that describes its subject rather than its canonical title. Ainulindalë is the specific opening narrative and title.