The Great Music, the act of creation by which the world was brought into being. Iluvatar proposed themes of music to the Ainur (the Valar and Maiar), and together they sang the world into existence. Morgoth's discord in the Music introduced the possibility of evil and suffering into the fabric of creation. The Ainulindale is both the name of the event and of the text that describes it, forming the opening chapter of The Silmarillion.