That's a very interesting quote, TolkienGurl!
Certainly it foreshadows Tolkien's future vocation as a linguistics professor, whose hobby was inventing his own languages.
It's kind of surprising that, at least at the time, he wasn't much interested in music. I'm tempted to speculate that perhaps his greater love of music later in his life might have had something to do with associating it with his mother, after she had passed away. But that's purely speculative on my part.
I personally would envision the Music of the Ainur as a very elaborate choral work, since the book does say that they actually sang, rather than played instruments. Of course maybe their voices sounded like instruments.
Varda: harp?
Tulkas: tuba?
Melkor: electric guitar (or microphone) with lots of feedback? [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]
Thanks to everyone for their good information and insights! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
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