A Melody That Had Long Been Silent

While re-reading J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit over the holiday weekend, I was struck by how significant a role music and songs played in his tale (and the same is true in The Lord of the Rings).  There is joyful singing, playful singing, sorrowful singing, etc.  Songs and music play a central role in the story. 

Maybe the most poignant place to notice this is in what Tolkien says about the dragon, Smaug, and how music and melody had been lost under his cruel dominion.  Listen to what happens when Bilbo and the dwarves come upon the unguarded treasure of the dragon:

Fili and Kili were almost in merry mood, and finding still hanging there many golden harps strung with silver they took them and struck them; and being magical (and also untouched by the dragon, who had small interest in music) they were still in tune. The dark hall was filled with a melody that had long been silent.