Posted by Michael Wendorf on March 15, 1999 at 06:09:10:
In Reply to: Re: Musical metaphor posted by R. John Howe on March 15, 1999 at 05:27:46:
: Dear Yon and Michael -
: I like both of these metaphors very much and they both speak to me.
: I do think that those who find Turkoman pieces too mechanical, alike and boring, simply haven't looked at them deeply enough to see the nice Haydn-ish moves in them. (Although I've not seen a Turkoman rug yet with Haydn's sense of humor.)
: And Mozart might be a shade sophisticated for my sense of much of Kurdish weaving but there is an aspect that fits very well. Someone has said that if Mozart has a flaw as a composer it is that he had too many musical ideas. The design and color use fecundity of Kurdish weaving seems very congruent with this aspect of Mozart as a musical metaphor.
: Regards,
: R. John Howe
Dear John:
Exactly! It is the design and color use fecundity that can be genius. Of course there are many components to Kurdish weavings (including unique weaving structures that may be thousands of years old, e.g., weftless soumak and some very sophisticated carpets) and not all Kurdish weavings, as with all groups, rise to the level of genius I was describing. But some do and chasing those down is why I collect.
Regards, Michael