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Azerbaijani Mugham and Carpet:
Cross-Domain Mapping
Inna Naroditskaya
In Azerbaijani culture, mugham (classical music) and carpet relate structurally,
semiotically, and socially. This article compares a specific mugham (Rast) and a specific
carpet (Shakhnazarli). The cognitive method of cross-domain mapping reveals the
interplay of repetition and disruption, symmetry and asymmetry in both art forms. The
structural dynamics of the two reflect the process of their production. Historically, carpet
making and mugham performance have been divided by gender. Carpet, made by
women, signifies historical and cultural territorialization while mugham, travelling in
space and covering an indefinite area, represents the male territory and motion.
Reinforcing gender boundaries, carpet and mugham also serve as agents of inter-gender
communication. The changing structures, vocabulary, and modes of production of the
two arts reflect dramatic changes taking place in the Soviet and post-Soviet era.
Keywords: Azerbaijan; Azerbaijani mugham; Cross-Domain Mapping; Improvised
Music; Semiotics; Mode; Pattern; Symmetry and Asymmetry; Ornamentation; Visual
and Temporal Spaces; Gul (Rose) and Bulbul (Nightingale); Structural and Social
Metaphor; Gender; Territorialization.
Prelude
In trying to think and talk about carpets I find myself constantly comparing them
with music. The warp and weft of their underlying structure are, like the musical
stave, the vehicle for the pattern and impose upon it a basic order. (Thomson 1993,
16)
Inna Naroditskaya, PhD (University of Michigan) is an Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology at Northwestern
University. She is the author of Song from the Land of Fire: Continuity and Change in Azerbaijanian Mugham
(2003), the first English-written book on Azerbaijani music. She is also a co-editor and contributor to the
volumes Manifold Identities: Studies on Music and Minorities (2004) and Music and Sirens (2005). Her research
focuses on the music and culture of Azerbaijan, diasporic cultures, music and gender, and recently on historical
ethnomusicology. Correspondence to: in-narod@northwestern.edu.
ISSN 1741-1912 (print)/ISSN 1741-1920 (online) # 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd
DOI: 10.1080/17411910500088361
Ethnomusicology Forum
Vol. 14, No. 1, June 2005, pp. 25/55
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[Radif ] is a system not unlike the grand designs of (Persian) carpets, their motifs
recurring in repetition and variation, their colors blending gradually or set off from
each other with sharp borders, abstract designs alternating with vestiges of natural
forms, large medallions and the dominant motifs, tiny designs and the ornamental
tones. (Nettl 1992, 107)
In Azerbaijani culture, mugham (classical music)
1
and carpet appear inseparable.
Carpets cover the walls, floors, couches, and chairs of private houses, and adorn the
stages and spacious foyers of theatres as well as taverns, teahouses, and wedding tents
/ everywhere mugham is performed. In his concerts in Paris and Chicago, Alim
Gasimov, a khanande (singer of mugham), sits cross-legged on a carpet he brings
from home. According to him, carpet design guides him in his mugham
improvisation (interview, 1997). Photographs of various musicians I took in
Azerbaijan typically include carpets (Figure 1). In Taza Pir, the central mosque in
Azerbaijans capital Baku, an imam reads the Quran in the style of vocal mugham
(Babayev 1990, 3; see also Zohrabov 1992, 21), surrounded by worshippers kneeling
on prayer carpets. Carpet is a shaper of cultural space filled with the sound of
mugham, both embodying the same aesthetic and social principles.
The symbiotic relationship between the two is represented in a two-storey building
at the wall of Bakus ichari shahar (inner city). The building has two entrances. One
Figure 1 Tar played by Elmar Sadykhov and daf by Mahmud Salahov.
26 I. Naroditskaya
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opens from the lower street into an enclosed garden. The other, on the opposite side
of the building, level with the upper street, leads to a balcony encircling the garden. In
the shadow of mulberry trees, drinking tea to assuage the heat of a summer day,
visitors in the first-floor garden enjoy a performance of mugham while resting their
eyes on the carpets / images of paradise
2
/ hanging from the second-floor balcony.
Visitors to the second floor, lovers of colourful, intricate carpets, walk from cell to cell
stopping to enjoy the sound of mugham. The signs on the building read House of
Mugham (on the first floor) and Carpet Gallery (on the second). This
simultaneous unity and division between mugham and carpet serve as a cultural
metaphor, each art form a conceptual and structural metaphor for the other.
3
In this paper, I argue that the two arts relate structurally, semiotically, and socially.
Applying homological analysis to a single carpet and a single mugham, I reverse the
spatial and temporal categories associated with each and explore social structures,
especially with respect to gender segregation / mugham performed historically by
men and carpets woven by women.
4
The designs of carpets, despite numerous
variations and types, often contain images of perfect gardens populated with geometric
ornaments, flowers, and animals; mughams are songs of love and longing that often
portray a bulbul (nightingale, man in love) and a gul (flower, beloved woman).
Lets pick the flowers; lets listen to the nightingale. . . .
My chest is red like a poppy flower seeking you,
My mad soul is wandering day and night like Mejnun.
5
The unity of the two, carpet and mugham, calls for a study of the hermeneutics of
social and cultural codes embedded in woven patterns of carpets made from leaves,
insects, and blood, and in the sounds of mugham blending with the winds
6
of the
Caucasus mountains and the Caspian Sea.
Is the performance of mugham linked with the production of carpet? Is it plausible
that woven patterns help a musician navigate his musical journey and, conversely,
that musical patterns serve as a sound template for the weaver as she weaves her
carpet?
Cultural Cross-Domain Mapping
Scholars on Western classical music, searching for keys to the meaning, language, and
effect of music, have drawn on the visual arts, employing concepts and terminology
identified with shape (form, formula, figure, contour, frame), architecture (structure,
architectonics), proportions (balance, symmetry, equilibrium), and bodily orienta-
tion (high, low). These terms relate less to musical sound than to musical text, itself
a visual representation of musical performance. (The English term music is
applied not only to a performance, but also to scores of compositions.) Clifford
Geertz, in his seminal work on cultural interpretation, suggests that without
specialized training one would not be able to associate musical sound with its score
Ethnomusicology Forum 27
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(1973, 11/12). Geertzs idea has kept me wondering how musical sound, particularly
oral Azerbaijani music, can be represented visually. Is it possible that carpet can be
listened to, its design evoking the sound of mugham?
The study of oral improvised musical traditions in Islamic cultures often involves a
comparison with other art forms. Lois Al Faruqi, exploring the art of Arabic maqam,
identifies parallel cognitive patterns in calligraphy, carpets, textiles, and music (Al
Faruqi 1985). Zia Mirabdolbaghi, in his writings on Iranian dastgah, comments on
analogies among music, miniatures, and carpets (During and Mirabdolbaghi 1991,
195/7), and Jean During undertakes a detailed comparative analysis of poetry,
dastgah, and the bazaar (During 1982).
Ethnomusicologists commonly employ transcription, acknowledging that it often
violates the very essence of oral and especially improvised music. Azerbaijani
mugham clearly resists transcription.
7
Many performers and musicians attest to this
resistance.
8
In this study, sensitive to this resistance, I did not transcribe improvised
sections, only metrical songs, the least variable part of the mugham tradition. Is there
a visual medium that allows a more nuanced, culturally informed way of listening to
and understanding the sound of mugham? On the basis of fieldwork, interviews with
both weavers and musicians,
9
and a comparative analysis of the two independent art
forms, I propose thinking of carpet as a material domain that contains patterns, ideas,
and sequences closely related to mugham performance.
10
In his work on the cognitive structure of cultural knowledge, Lawrence M.
Zbikowski suggests that a mapping between the domains of physical space and
music . . . gives us a glimpse into a process of meaning construction (2002, 201/2).
Revisiting musical categories such as pitch, motif, and theme, he analyses the
concepts of space and depth, interpreting the act of conceptualizing music as a
chain of cognitive events (2002, 4). Exploring the idea of cross-domain mapping
primarily within the frame of composed or written music and basing his study on the
dichotomy between musical score and performance, Zbikowski raises the possibility
of looking for models of cultural codification and communication essentially
different from those existing and studied in the West.
11
I found Zbikowskis idea
of cross-domain mapping instrumental to the interpretation of Azerbaijani culture. I
will later outline the possibility of extending this cross-domain mapping from the
analysis of art forms to everyday discourses that take place in the changeable realms
of gender relations and social processes.
What is Mugham? A Historical Note
The word mugham is related to the Arabic word maqam (literally, station) and is
thus, at its very root, identified metaphorically with a spatial category. Azerbaijani
scholars such as Uzeyir Hajibeyov (1885/1948) have explained the concept of
mugham in architectural terms, envisioning it as a twelve-columned, six-towered
musical temple (Hajibeyov 1985, 18/19). Whether considered music or, in
accordance with Islamic authorities, non-music,
12
mugham constitutes a central
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pillar in the Azerbaijani soundscape. It provides melodic material for both the
reading of the Quran and the chanting of the azan calling faithful Muslims to the
mosque for prayer (Babayev 1990, 3; also my interviews with female mullahs in Taza
Pir and Goy Mosque in 1997). The modal base and melodic patterns of mugham are
inherently connected with the folk repertoire
13
and with the performances of ashiqs
(bards) (Mammedov 1988, 51/60). For centuries, mugham compositions were
performed in mejlises (gatherings of poets and performers of mugham), as well as in
private gatherings, restaurants, and parks. Mugham is nowadays sung and played in
Azerbaijani opera houses and symphonic halls. However, the major performing
venue, the home of mugham, was and still is the wedding (Arif Babayev, interview,
1997).
Like mugham, carpet relates to many aspects of Azerbaijani lives, including
religious and domestic rituals that reaffirm a collective national identity. Individual
namazlyks (prayer carpets) cover the floors of mosques and are kept in individual
houses. Latif Kerimov (1906/1991), the major Azerbaijani expert on carpets,
provides a list of carpet products traditionally used in Azerbaijani households,
including the chuval (a large bag for keeping grain), the hurjun (a travelling bag), the
yakharuzu (a carpet for saddling a horse), and the mafrash (a type of box for storing
sleeping articles) (1983a, II, 69). Like mugham, carpet is closely linked with weddings.
If traditional weddings are held in a spacious tent, carpet may cover the floors, inner
walls, and benches. Carpets are an essential part of the bridal dowry. Like a boy
repeating after his father or master an intricate line of mugham, a little girl
learns carpet making from her sisters and mother.
14
Carpets still lie and are hung in
modern Azerbaijani houses, even in those where women no longer know how to
make them.
Both mugham and carpet are identified with specific regions of Azerbaijan. The
major mugham centres since the late 19th century have been Shirvan, Baku, and
Qarabaq. Each of the three areas in turn presents a variety of styles and composition
types conforming to local musical traditions, attitudes towards musical performance,
and lineages of particular masters. Though, like mugham, carpet making is spread
throughout the territory of Azerbaijan, the best-known schools are identified with the
Guba-Shirvan, Gyanja-Kazak, and Qarabaq areas (Aliyeva 1987, 12). Kerimov
identifies 123 independent carpet types, each carrying its own name (1983a, I, 226).
Mugham and Carpet as Modal Systems
The mugham concept encompasses two inherently connected parts: a modal system
and a type of composition referred to as mugham performance or dastgah. The
dastgah may be a single short piece or a compound composition / a chain of
improvisations interspersed with colourful dance-like instrumental rangs (colour)
and vocal tasnif s / lasting over an hour.
15
Mugham as a modal entity encompasses a
tonal system with intervals different from those in the 12-tone tempered scale; a
number of mugham modes; scale rows associated with each individual mode; and a
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rich collection of melodic fragments, motifs, and rhythmic units, each identified with
a specific mode and serving as the basis for performance. A currently used tonal
system, rooted in the works of Safi ad-Din Urmavi (1198/1283), is identified with
seventeen divisions within the octave.
16
The tonal system defines the modal scales,
each with its own function in the performance of mugham. Two of the primary
elements in mugham mode, the pitch collection and related melodic content, are
comparable with the colour palette and design of carpets.
As lush in their colour scale as a mugham in its intricate tonal pallet, carpets
introduce no gradual saturation or lightening of colour, no colour shades and hues.
17
The colourful field of a carpet is knotted from threads bathed, dried, and dyed to
match a colour scale determined by the availability of local materials and by local or
familial traditions. Prior to the end of the 19th century, natural dyes were prepared
from insects, leaves, and flowers. Saffron crocus, pomegranate skin, and vine leaves
were used for yellow; cochineal insects (the dried body of the female cochineal),
cherry juice, madder, and bulls blood gave different shades of red; indigo was
transported from India for creating blue; mahogany, nutshells, tea, and tobacco were
used for brown and blacks and eggplants for purple.
18
Although combinations of
these basic colours can generate a wide range of shades and tones, for a given carpet a
weaver ultimately has a prepared and relatively fixed pallet typically comprising 7/11
colours (Azadi et al . 2001, 91), which may vary subtly through the length of the
thread just as the singers voice and the instrumental accompaniment vary in
mugham performance.
19
While a painter can draw a line, zigzag or figure with a
pencil or brush, later dressing figures in colours, a weaver creates patterns through the
combination and interplay of two or more colours.
Like modal scales in different mughams, each carpet family has a characteristic
pallet. Carpets from the Guba-Shirvan region, according to carpet historian Ana-
Khanum Aliyeva, are characterized by the contrast of white, blue, and red in the
background with light blue, light green, purple, ochre, and red in the central pattern
and borders (Aliyeva 1987, 50). In the same way that the modal scales of mugham are
both the basis and derivative of its melodic vocabulary, the colours of carpets are the
basis of woven motifs. Azerbaijani aesthetic perception is rooted in the process of
recognizing, deciphering, and decoding colour/tone and motif/pattern in carpets and
mughams.
Modal System as Process
Carpet designs are composed of micromotifs / geometric units whose repetition and
variation create larger patterns. The juxtaposition of these larger segments defines the
dynamics and the overall structure of the carpet. Each carpet group and each section
of a woven piece is associated with an extensive and yet limited number of motif
patterns. For example, Pirabedil / a carpet composition belonging to the Guba-
Shirvan group and carrying the name of the village where it is produced / is easily
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recognized by a distinct pattern known as gaichi (scissors) or buinizu (horns)
(Figure 2).
20
This pattern, repeated and rotated, fills the main field of Pirabedil. Typically a
chain of buinizus positioned perpendicular to the long sides of the carpet constitutes
the central axis of the carpet while others, rotated by 90 degrees, enclose the main
field (Aliyeva 1987, 110). Surrounding the main pattern, various elements identified
with this carpet type / geometric turkeys, haystacks, leaves, and flowers / occupy the
field (Figures 2 and 3). For example, an eight-petal flower motif in various shapes,
colours, and sizes appears repeatedly in the centre of the carpet (Figure 3).
The frame of Pirabedil consists of six borders / an outer one, a second one (the
widest and most important), a third mirroring the first, and then three narrow
borders leading to the inner field of the carpet, each with its own name and typical
pattern (Kerimov 1983a, II, 168/9).
Like carpet, a mugham composition is woven from short melodic units known as
avazes.
21
Elhan Babayev comments, an individual idiosyncrasy of each mugham is
embedded in its thematic cell / the micro theme. . . . Varied, modified, and reversed
repetition of this microtheme leads to the formation of the smallest complete
Figure 2 Carpet Pirabedil, buinizu (horns) surrounded by four turkeys.
Figure 3 Variety of eight-petal owers and turkeys.
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structure of mugham / the gushe (Babayev 1990, 34), a generic term for motifs
identified with a mugham or one of its sections.
22
Each gushe bears the name of the
mugham and/or section it is associated with. For example, Mahmudova transcribes
and analyses the gushe of mugham Rast consisting of three avazes (Figure 4).
23
Like mugham, the carpet modal system can be viewed as a repository of different
colour scales, patterns, designs, and overall dynamic structures. (Many pages in
Kerimovs work on carpet contain descriptions and classifications of woven patterns,
reminiscent of the many types of melodic gushes defined by Hajibeyov.) Similarly the
modal system of mugham, almost visual in its proportionality, sense of balance, and
combination of small and large units, seems reminiscent of the principles of carpet
composition.
Carpet and Mugham Compositions
The modal system contains keys to both structure and dynamic process / the
cohesion of mugham composition. The sequence of improvisations, rangs, and
tasnif s in a complete mugham performance creates rising and falling dramatic
tension that drives informed listeners to reverie or tears.
Like mugham, a carpet is a compound piece with a sequence of large composite
designs called medallions / gulu / in a central field, not unlike the chain of
improvised pieces in a mugham. The patterns of small figures that fill the main field
between the medallions
24
can be compared with metrical tasnif s and rangs. The rows
of borders characteristic of nearly all types of Azerbaijani carpets are likewise
comparable to the opening and closing sections in mugham performances.
The following section of this paper compares a specific mugham and a specific
carpet: Rast, performed by the ensemble Jabbar Garyaghdi,
25
and Shahnazarli ,
belonging to the family of Guba-Shirvan carpets.
26
The choice of the two
compositions was dictated by practical reasons as much as by intuition.
27
I selected
pieces that 1) belong to well-known Azerbaijani types of the two art forms, 2)
embody characteristic elements of these types, and 3) are performed/produced by
masters. Although the idea of correspondence is suggested by scholarship in the
region and confirmed by my interviews in the field, the outcome of the structural
comparison I performed was surprising.
28
This investigation requires the conversion, reversal, and manipulation of spatial
and temporal categories associated with the visual and musical forms. The analysis of
the parts of dastgah Rast in proportion to its overall structure permits me to
Figure 4 Gushe Rast performed by M. Mansurov (Mahmudova 1997, 106).
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approach it as a spatial form, which can be represented by a graphical image based on
the measurement of time and the tonal model scales. This spatial map of the
mugham composition allows one to view it instantly as a whole. Conversely, the
examination of carpet in terms of its fragments in sequence led me to perceive it as a
temporal art in spite of its pictorial qualities. In addition to looking at the carpet as a
whole, as one usually views a two-dimensional work of visual art, I would argue that,
in the domestic scene, the eyes of an observer are often attracted to a pattern or a part
of the design, not embracing the whole field, but gradually progressing from one
pattern to another, enjoying the repetition and the disruption of the recognized
motifs. I chose to trace the pattern as the weaver creates it / from side to side and
gradually from top to bottom.
Basic Structure
The Jabbar Garyaghdi Ensemble performance of mugham Rast lasts for 5907
minutes, and consists of 29 parts following a traditional formula for Dastgah Rast . In
the two columns below one finds the accepted order of Dastgah Rast formulated by
Zohrabov (1992, 44/5)
29
and the outline of the Rast studied here (Rast Dastgah
1993). The underlined sections correspond in the two versions. All sections except
tasnif s and rangs are improvisatory. Metrically defined rangs (instrumental) and
tasnif s (vocal pieces) function largely as bridges between the generally longer
improvised sections.
Chart showing the correspondence between Zohrabovs model of Rast and the Jabbar
Garyaghdi Ensemble performance:
Rast (Zohrabovs list ) Rast (Ensemble Garyaghdi)
1. Daramad . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 1. Daramad
2. Tasnif . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ... 2. Tasnif
3. Bardasht . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 3. Bardasht
4. Maye Rast . . .. . .. . .. . .. . ... 4. Maye
5. Tasnif
6. Ushag . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 5. Ushag
7. Chane Sengulesi
8. Huseini . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 6. Huseini
9. Tasnif . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ... 7. Tasnif
10. Vilayeti . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 8. Vilayeti
11. Tasnif
12. Rang . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 9. Rang
13. Shahnaz-hara . . .. . .. . .. . . 10. Shahnaz
11. Rang
14. Kurdi . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 12. Kurdi
13. Rang
14. Kurdi
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15. Pachlevi
16. Hodgeste
17. Tasnif . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 15. Tasnif
16. Shikesteyi-Fars
18. Rang . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 17. Rang
19. Haveran 18. Shikesteyi-Fars
20. Rang . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 19. Rang
21. Arag 20. Muberrige
22. Rang . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 21. Rang
23. Penjgah . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 22. Penjgah
24. Pehlede gezichi
25. Tasnif . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 23. Tasnif
26. Rang 24. Arag
25. Tasnif
27. Rak . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 26. Rak
27. Rang
28. Gerai . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ... 28. Gerai
29. Emiri 29. Rasta Ayag
30. Dahri
Like mugham, the carpet Shahnazarli , bearing the name of the village where the
carpet was produced, belongs to a long tradition. Azerbaijani Guba carpets are known
for their high density of knots, abundant ornamentations and rich decoration
(Aliyeva 1987, 49). The pattern of Shahnazarli consists of a central field with gulu s
(medallions) enclosed by a frame of six rows or borders with varying width, colours,
and designs.
Frames
In Azerbaijani architectural monuments, palaces, and gardens as well as in designs of
carpet and mugham, the visual/temporal space is shaped, constrained and regulated
by borders. The frame of Shahnazarli (Figure 5) consists of several borders, each with
its own motifs, many of which reappear in the main field.
The outer border (Figure 6) is a regular series of red and black double hooks called
garmaq (hook) or gara garmaq (double hook) (Aliyeva 1987, 60; Kerimov 1983a, II,
128). This interlocking chain of hooks introduces the red/black tonal combination
that defines the major colours of the carpets main field. This seemingly insignificant
motif plays the role of a visual gushe, which, as in mugham, appears throughout the
carpets design.
30
The braided red and white curls of the narrow second border
visually connect the first and middle rows of the carpet (Figure 7).
The wide middle row (Figure 8), known in Azerbaijan as anahashiie (Kerimov
1983a, II, 127), exposes the colour mode of the carpet and combines the geometric
design from the outermost frame with the tiny floral design from the innermost row,
thereby uniting the borders and establishing the essential characteristics of the
carpets main field. An enlarged version of the garmaq is spun 90 degrees and placed
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against its own reflection, using the carpets full colour modal scale. The regularity of
the pattern is imperfect, with hooks running into each other at the corner of the
rug and with bright colours that do not follow the same order. The range of
colours expands from those introduced in the first rows (red, black, and white)
to the whole colour scale of the carpet, including green, red, orange, tan, white, and
black.
Figure 6 Double hook motif in frame.
Figure 7 Fragment of red-white curl.
Figure 8 Rotated hook motif in middle row or border.
Figure 5 Segment of the frame of the carpet Shahnazarli .
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After the elaborate middle row, two inner borders (white/red and black/red) mirror
the two outer borders, and are followed by three progressively narrower and less
contrasting ones.
One can compare the role of the borders in Shahnazarli with the Daramad, Tasnif ,
and Bardasht comprising the opening and the final Tasnif , Rak, Rang, Gerai , and
Rast Ayag the closing.
31
The mughams
32
opening piece, Daramad, is a short (051)
instrumental prelude that introduces the tonal range of the mode Rast and two
gushes (Figures 9 and 10), whose melodic patterns encircle the two tonal centres, G
and D, anticipating their confrontation in the subsequent development of the dastgah
(Figures 9 and 10).
Like the second border of the carpet, the first song of the Rast / Tasnif 1 (Figure 11
and Figure 6 above) functions as a bridge. Derived from the second gushe of the
Daramad, the Tasnif hints at and alludes to the rhythm and intonation of the
following first vocal improvisation, Bardasht .
Linking the instrumental Daramad and the vocal improvised Bardasht, this Tasnif
solidifies the opening that introduces the modal entity of Rast as well as elements
that will identify this particular performance. The white-red curl of Shahnazarli
parallels the instrumental duet of tar and kamancha that opens and closes the
Bardasht , with the kamancha, striving for unison, following the tar just a bit later or
leaping an octave up.
The Bardasht (450) and the middle row of the carpet frame are similar
proportionally within the temporal/visual structure, about 1/12 of the compound
compositions. Both perform similar functions by introducing the full scope of their
respective tonal and colour modes, and both are based on motifs derived from the
outermost borders. In Bardasht , the interplay of repetition and change is revealed
Figure 9 Daramad (gushe 1)
32
Tar and kamancha (the daf is not notated, it keeps the
beat).
Figure 10 Daramad (gushe 2).
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in the sustained punctuation of one note followed by intricate ascending lines leading
to another sustained and punctuated note. Thus the scale Rast is revealed by the
gradual unravelling, repetition and ornamentation of each tone. Besides introducing
the full range of the Rast modal scale, Bardasht employs elements from previous
sections and establishes the tonal plan of the whole dastgah, anticipating departures
and arrivals to alternative tonal centres.
The transition from the Bardasht /middle frame to the Maye/main field is
remarkably logical. The singer starts Bardasht in a high-pitched range and gradually
moves towards a lower register, where the singing changes to expressive declamation.
A relatively long section, Bardasht ends with numerous cadences increasingly narrow
in range (the last motif, repeated over and over, is based on a descending A/G),
linking to the section Maye / a process parallel to the decreasing width of borders
and range of colours near the main field.
Figure 11 Tasnif 1, Voice.
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Maye/Central Field
Maye, central to mugham composition, has several meanings.
33
Hajibeyov calls maye
a tonic: G, in the case of dastgah Rast . Maye is also a tonal zone and as such it is
identified with the central section in the composition. Finally, maye is the modal
home, the place of departure and eventual return, the background for journeys into
different modal areas of the mugham (Hajibeyov 1985, 56, 150; Zohrabov 1992, 25,
30/1; Mahmudova 1997, 25, 41/7). Rena Mamedova, in her poetic essay The role of
maye in the formation of mugham composition, refers to maye as to the beginning
of all, the base of all (musical) development, the anticipation of the end, and the
centre of the composition (1985, 124). She describes maye as the stable element of
the mugham composition / the warp and weft constituting the very fabric of
mugham.
In Shahnazarli , the central field serves as the canvas, background, design
foundation, and powerful centre of the deep (dark blue, almost black) tonal
colour, like the maye tonic, also the home. Three of the five gulu s in the carpets
main field display the red and black combination and the other two are saturated
with bright colours. The red and black medallion, less crowded and limited in colour
scope and yet significant because of its recurrence in the central field, is comparable
to the Maye section of the mugham.
Both lack the dense ornamentation and eventfulness of other parts of the
composition. The vocal line of Maye (420) starts modestly with a falling three-
tone motif (B, A, and G) emphasizing B (like the red medallion, which has fewer
colours than other patterns in the carpet field). The constrained tonal pallet in the
musical maye, together with an intense declamatory style, defines the poignancy of
this section, as does the open red space with relatively simple graphics in the central
gulu . Overall, the concept of maye appears crucial to the understanding of the form
processes in this Rast . The initial melodic cell of three descending tones spins into the
intricate fabric of the mugham composition.
Likewise, a small four-petal flower woven out of a modest combination of three
colours (Figure 12) becomes a major element in the carpet field and in the centre of
the two diamond-shaped medallions. The elaborate design of these medallions results
from the configuration of the same simple geometric flowers, repeated, transposed,
rotated, diminished, and enlarged in size and modulating to different colours.
34
At the centre of the diamond, the simple motif and the colour scope burst into
larger and increasingly elaborate flowers, leaves, and geometric figures that are all
based upon the same square-shaped central flower (Figure 13). As one moves from
the border of the carpet towards the centre, the two-colour combination leads to an
expanded colour scope coinciding with the exploration of geometric patterns and
their combinations. Each motif can be seen as an independent unit, repeated in
different colours and sizes, converging at the centre of the field and growing into large
medallions.
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As in the canvas of the carpet, where a sequence of the colourful gulu s explores and
emphasizes colours and combinations different from the background of the main
field (maye), in mugham the sections following maye initiate travel to other tonal
and modal zones. Ushag/Huseini (ushag, lovers, 117) emphasizes the new centres C
and E, though, at the end of these two parts, the melodic line returns to Rast by a
descending line from D to G. Tasnif 2 reiterates this descending motion (Figure 14).
In the following improvised section, Vilayeti (district, 523), a very intimate
dialogue between the khanandes voice and the instruments (tar/kamancha)
introduces and focuses on the segment D/E flat /F/F sharp.
35
Though the
beginning of the Shahnaz (422) echoes the Bardasht opening, the centre of
gravitation in the mugham almost immediately shifts to high G with a semi-cadence
on E flat finally arriving at D.
36
The drone on G in Tasnif 3 reinforces the ties to maye
Rast , much as the dark colour in the background of the carpets main field defines the
brightness and intensity of colours and patterns. Another important emphasis is on
A, which anticipates a shift towards Kurdi .
Figure 13 Flowers within the diamond pattern.
Figure 12 Four-petalled ower.
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The Kurdi consists of two parts with a rang in between. The first Kurdi, in which
the singers voice rises to a high range with dense ornamentation, centres on A with
several swift rises to C. The second Kurdi , beginning with sustained repetition and an
embellishment of C, leads to the singers conquest of the upper D. Before the second
Kurdi is over, the singer spins a long, remarkably intricate ornament, by the end of
which we, the listeners, are back in the home tonal range of Rast . The organization of
the first half of the composition can be outlined as follows (T stands for tasnif ; R for
rang; and the letters below the sections indicate tonal centres):
The first half of the dastgah Rast
Dar. /T1/ Bard. / Maye /Ush/Hus. / T2 / Vil. / R1 / Shah. / R2/ Kurdi / R3 / Kurdi / T3
G (Rast) D (A) A (C) (A)P/D Do/G
37
Figure 14 Tasnif 2, voice.
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In the second half of the composition, the departure from the home of Rast is no
longer limited to the exploration of new tonal ranges. Instead, the intense
dramaturgic development beginning in Shikesteyi-Fars leads to instant modulation
to the mode Segah. Like the Kurdi , Shikesteyi-Fars is split in two halves by Rang 4; the
following improvisation, Muberrige (shining, 143) remains in Segah but moves an
octave higher. The Muberrige is the highest point in the performance; the following
Penjgah (fifth place, in reference to the scale Rast, thus D) is perhaps the most ornate
improvisation. Releasing the energy of Muberrige and yet maintaining intensity by
combining recitation and melodic cries, this section turns downwards. After these
adventurous modal and territorial journeys, Tasnif 4 modulates back to mugham Rast
and leads to the improvisation Arag, which, according to Zohrabov is the
transposition of Maye Rast an octave up (1992, 57). Continuous downward
progression is completed in a cluster of five pieces, a coda that mirrors the opening
parts preceding the Maye section. (In my search for words to describe the structural
paradigm of mugham performance I inevitably draw on visual imagery.)
The second half of the dastgah Rast
T3 / Sh.-F / R4 / Sh.-F / R5 / Mub. / R6/ Pen. / T4 / Arag / T5 / Rak / R7 / Ger. / Rasta A.
G G-B B(Segah) (octave up) D*/B G(Rast)
The visual outline of the two halves of the mugham composition / the sequence of
sections, the recurrence of metrical pieces, and the departure and arrival to the main
modal area / reveals elements of symmetry reminiscent of carpet design. The pattern
of modal journeys also appears symmetrical. In the first part of the composition the
tonal shift follows a chain of fifths and reveals a symmetrical structure: G/D/A/D/
G. The modulations in the second part also follow a symmetrical order, although by a
chain of thirds: G/B/D/B/G. My cross-domain map (Figure 15) showing this
mugham as a carpet illustrates areas of equilibrium characteristic and never exact in
both carpet and mugham.
Dynamics of Shahnazarli and Mugham Rast
The dynamics of carpet design perhaps reflect the process of carpet making itself,
which is different from painting, where the artist can paint in any direction and in
any part of the canvas, but is similar to mugham performance. Both mugham and
carpet are produced knot-by-knot, pitch-by-pitch. Any addition or omission, any
displacement of a few knots/pitches transforms the overall design. Both mugham and
carpet lack the elements associated with contrast as a characteristic device in most
Western visual and musical art forms. The developmental processes in Shahnazarli
and Rast are achieved not by contrasting melodies, ranges, tempi or volume, but
rather through gradual internalized exploration and expansion of each speck of
sound/colour.
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Each additional tone may at first be woven into the melodic fabric, then repeated
and encircled, finally becoming a temporary melodic area for a two- or three-tone
sequence, continually expanding and moving towards a central station. This process
leads to the gradual exploration of the whole tonal and melodic area of the main
mode and then to different though related modal areas. Typically this expansion is
directed upwards and, after reaching the culmination in the section of the highest
range, the dynamics are reversed, descending back to the main modal area and its
initial tonal and melodic material. The expansion of range coincides with and is
significantly intensified by the increasing density and intricacy of melodic elabora-
tion, a process reversed towards the end of the composition (Figure 16).
Metrical Pieces (Tasnif s and Rangs)
Tasnif s and rangs, inserted by the instrumental performers as the khanande directs,
form a network significant to the overall structure. For example, the five tasnif s
included in this Rast are evenly dispersed, as one may observe in the temporal outline
of the performance. The regularity is especially surprising considering the
improvisatory nature of the composition: the three middle tasnif s occur at 15, 30,
and 45 minutes into the piece. The metres of the tasnif s also follow a pattern: the first
and last tasnif s are 4/4, while the middle three are 6/8.
Figure 15 Map of Mugham.
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In terms of tonal and melodic content (colours and basic patterns), these metrical
pieces, in addition to providing links with their immediate neighbours (the
improvisational sections) also anticipate the overall direction of the mugham.
Though tasnif s and rangs can substitute for each other, the choice of each in its
specific place in the performance is strategic. In the opening of the dastgah, the tasnif
introduces the main material, the singer, and the entire mugham ensemble. Tasnif 2
follows the Maye, concluding with Ushag/Huseini . Invigorating the progression from
main area, Tasnif 2 uses 6/8 metre and exhibits the light dancing character typical of
rangs. The next metrical piece is Rang 1.
This Rang, with its dynamic character, faster tempo and shorter format, begins a
new, adventurous phase in the mugham, energizing the performance. The three rangs
in the first half of the composition are interspersed between the improvised sections,
each playing its own role in relation to the overall dramaturgy.
38
Tasnif 3 is
positioned in the exact centre of the Rast. It is the fifteenth song among the twenty-
nine included in the composition; and it starts in the 30th minute of the hour of the
Figure 16 Shahnazarli .
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Rasts performance. At the exact centre of the balanced musical structure, Tasnif 3,
incorporating elements from all the previous sections, returns to the main tonal and
melodic pallet of Rast .
Rang 4, inserted between the two parts of the Shikesteyi-Fars , occurs exactly as far
from the end of the composition as Rang 1 was from the beginning. After an
adventurous journey to different modal areas, Tasnif 4 modulates back to mugham
Rast and leads without interruption to the improvisation Arag. The return to the
home of Rast is solidified by Tasnif 5, itself woven from the elements of Daramad and
the first Tasnif , building a strong associative bridge to the beginning of the whole
mugham composition.
The sequence of rangs and tasnif s / their modal, melodic, and metrical functions
/ demonstrates the combination of symmetry and repetition, concepts that
determine the structure, the language, and the aesthetics of carpets. Connecting to
the opening of the composition, the last chain of songs reaches equilibrium and
forms the frame for the whole mugham-dastgah.
Temporal/Spatial Structure
The principle of symmetry in music and painting goes back to the idea of mirror
calligraphies, the pools of waters that reflect the architecture of the mosques, or the
perfect symmetry of the carpets. (During and Mirabdolbaghi 1991: 197)
In mugham and carpet, balance and symmetry result from the repetition of musical
and visual motifs. In carpets, the eye immediately recognizes the same figures, lines,
and colours repeated and reflected; the left side repeats the right, and the upper part
mirrors the lower. The same symmetry seems to define the form of every small motif,
pattern, and element of the carpet, each element having its own tonal centre and
cadence.
In the same way, equilibrium in mugham involves repetition of the same
rhythmical or melodical formulas, cadences or even single pitches. Speaking about
distinctive features of Azerbaijani music (mugham), Jean During notes limportance
de la forme cadentialle (question-reponse), de limitation, de la symetrie et de la
repetition de motifs (1988, 36).
39
This may be understood by viewing carpets where
each structurally formed pattern appears as a series of frames (cadences), one within
another, centred around a small motif that corresponds to every part of the pattern
and to the design as a whole.
The map introduced earlier, converting temporal into spatial categories, demon-
strates the graphical symmetry of the dastgah Rast , which, as in carpet design, is
supported by each element and its place in the composition. For example, the Vilayeti
in the first half of the dastgah Rast and the Penjgah in the second half, the longest
pieces in their respective halves, are turning points in the tonal/modal outline of the
mugham: Vilayeti signifies the first successful shift away from the tonal range of Maye
(from G to the fifth / D)
40
, and Penjgah symbolizes the last and the strongest fort in
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the modal opposition (Segah) to the Rast , anticipating the return to the maye (Arag).
Two Kurdi s and Shikesteyi-Fars , each divided in half by inserted rangs, are placed
symmetrically around the middle Tasnif . The Muberrige in the second part and the
high-range Shahnaz in the first are also equally distant from the centre of the time
scale.
Here again, a striking analogy can be drawn between the proportions of the
mugham composition and the carpet. The lengths of the mughams opening and its
conclusion are nearly the same; therefore, both are equally positioned with respect
to Tasnif 3, echoing the relation of the carpets frames to its centre. The compound
time of the overture and coda, viewed as the frame of the dastgah Rast , is equal
to 15 minutes or about 1/4 of the performance time of the composition. According
to the Azerbaijani tradition of carpet making, the width of carpets frames is typically
1/5 or 1/4 of the breadth of the carpet (Kerimov 1983a, II, 133). The symmetry that is
apparent in the carpet lies at the basis of the dastgah Rast as shown in the map of the
composition.
Interplay of Symmetry and Asymmetry
The symmetrical structure of carpet pleases the viewers eyes. Yet a close perusal of the
carpet gradually reveals startling asymmetry not noticeable at first glance. For
example, in the middle border of Shahnazarli , the regular repetition of the
overlapped hooks is disrupted in one of the corners, while the other three look the
same (Figure 17). Likewise, small figures placed around the central pattern of the
main field disturb the symmetry (Figure 18).
Looking at different carpets of various groups and types, one realizes that in the
more refined carpets and designs asymmetrical elements are hidden in mirrored
patterns. These little patterns cannot be viewed as mere ornaments, mistakes or
expressions of the whim of the weaver. In the midst of powerful and complex cultural
metaphors / gardens, love, and paradise / each fragment of asymmetry trumpets its
own significance and asks for interpretation.
41
Figure 17 Two corners of Shahnazarli .
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The symmetry captured in the graphic map of the Rast is likewise both deceptive
and meaningful. One recalls that the songs never sound the same. Instead, strongly
tied to the dynamics of the whole, each segment introduces a new modal/tonal
area. The repetition of motifs, one of the main artistic devices, is never exact. Even
the repetition of single pitches does not sound the same, because of uneven
rhythmical pulsation. The enjoyment of both listeners and performers is derived
from the recognition of familiar gushes but even more from subtle unexpected
deviations.
Motifs in both carpet and mugham form cascades of ornamentation. According to
mugham specialist Mamedova, ornamentation in Azerbaijani art reveals itself in a
multiplicity of small modifications, in ornamental patterns, and in a few changes
of basic motifs (1988, 18). Melodic elaboration does not decorate tone/motifs;
rather, motifs and contours serve as the vehicle for ornamentation (Al Faruqi 1978,
18).
42
Ornamentation is therefore an active force that disrupts symmetry. As a result,
the person who listens to mugham or views a carpet notices, amid the familiar motifs,
every slightly changed nuance and ornament.
Looking at the geometric ornamentation in Shahnazarli , for instance, one
suddenly discovers small human and animal figures on the carpet main field / a
person and dogs below the second gulu from the left and possibly a wolf above it
(Figure 19).
43
The depiction of people and animals is generally forbidden in Islam, yet for some
types of carpets, including Shahnazarli , it is traditional to weave such figures into
geometric patterns.
44
The carpet-maker often depicts, for example, a wedding, hiding
the figures by blending them with the dense and abstract arabesques.
45
Islamic law
similarly affects the social agency of mugham: music itself, a contested category, is
considered haram (forbidden). If live figures woven into a geometric ornament can
be alternatively perceived as merely patterns, the recitation of mugham can be viewed
as non-musical, the singer simply reading mugham.
46
Figure 18 Ornamentation surrounding diamond-shaped gures from opposite sides of
the main eld.
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Structural and Social Metaphors
The dichotomy of symmetry and asymmetry, stability and change reveals both a
universal, hidden cognitive layer of meaning and a culture-specific formula of
Azerbaijani creative thinking, which Mamedova finds in mugham (Mamedova 1987,
23). To explore this formula within mugham and carpet one relies on a third domain
to formulate and communicate ideas / language. Zbikowski points out that the
verbal metaphor mapping pitches as high and low correlates to the orientation of
our bodies and the conceptualization of music in the West (Zbikowski 2002, 66/7).
47
As a basic structure of understanding through which we conceptualize one domain in
terms of others, metaphor is a key to both everyday meaning and exceptional
human creativity (Lakoff and Johnson 1999, 201; see also Fauconnier and Turner
2002, 6). Visualizing musical sound and listening to woven patterns lead one to
undertake structural analysis and to employ metaphors relating the differences
between the two art forms and the correspondence of their patterns to complex
networks of social relations.
The interpretation of patterns, colours, tones, and structures is relevant to the
particularity of Azerbaijani identity: the aesthetics of Muslim Shiism, Azerbaijani
mysticism, the quest for national character, relationships to larger ethnic, regional,
and political entities, as well as Westernization, secularization and gender
desegregation / concepts revisited and challenged in current Azerbaijan.
48
Over the last hundred years the two art forms have been affected by the same
factors and have undergone similar changes. For example, during the oil boom in
Azerbaijan at the start of the 20th century, Azerbaijani arts and crafts of the area
Figure 19 Small human and animal gures on opposite sides of Shahnazarli .
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became increasingly attractive to Russians, foreign entrepreneurs, and the emerging
Azerbaijani intelligentsia. Azerbaijani carpets were shown at all-Russian exhibitions
(interestingly the prizes and nominations were awarded to men whose wives, sisters
or mothers wove the carpets),
49
and at the same time mugham trios began to perform
in the intermissions of European plays staged in Tiflis and other urban centres of the
Transcaucasus. The year 1908 was marked by 1) the foundation of the Native Art
Studio that collected rare carpet patterns from weavers and studied old dyeing
techniques, and 2) the premier of the first mugham opera Leili and Majnun by
Hajibeyov (the female parts were performed by men).
The advent of socialism (1920) was associated with gender desegregation. Women
were encouraged to take part in public musical performances and music education,
and in the early 1920s the first professional female musicians graduated from the
conservatory founded by Hajibeyov. Collecting and systematizing mugham perfor-
mances, Hajibeyov also wrote Principles of Azerbaijanian Folk Music (1985). Male
artists likewise collected and studied carpet patterns and also learned to weave.
Kerimov, for example, became one of the most prominent carpet-makers of the 20th
century and the author of an influential body of scholarship on Azerbaijani carpets.
50
The changing status of carpet as an applied art form (not a craft) and as a subject of
study for art historians led to the formation of an elite group of female weaver-
scholars (Ana-Khanum Aliyeva, Kubra Aliyeva, Roya Tagyeva).
Since the beginning of the 20th century the performance/production of mugham
and carpet has been increasingly concentrated in Baku where, in combinat s (studios),
weavers (still mainly women) make carpets of various schools, locales, and types.
Mugham performance and carpet production have become more uniform, blending,
to some extent, elements of formerly local traditions. Along with hand-woven
carpets, rugs are also produced in factories. Likewise, since the beginning of the 20th
century, mughams have been recorded and distributed; in addition to traditional
trios, this oral music has been adapted to Western instruments, ensembles, and
orchestras.
Today carpet sets remain a part of the bridal dowry.
51
The refined, high-quality
carpets identify the social and financial status of the brides family, but no longer
measure the household skills and abilities of the bride / most women do not weave
and carpets for dowries are bought from professional weavers. Likewise mugham
remains an indispensable part of wedding celebrations, but in contemporary (one-
day instead of multiple-day) wedding ceremonies mugham performance is often
shortened and mixed with other popular musical genres.
52
In carpets and mughams produced in recent times, the choice of patterns and
motifs, the size and length of the compositions, the colours and tones,
53
the mistakes
and asymmetries, as well as the type of performances and the performers themselves
can guide one to better understanding current social, cultural and gender dynamics
entwined, communicated and negotiated in the dialogue of the two art forms.
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Conclusion: Muhabbat, a Dialogue of Love?
Several elements of carpet/mugham production and structure compel me in this essay
to focus on the semiotics of gender: the traditional production of carpet by women
and mugham by men, the figures of flowers and birds in the garden-carpets, the
poetic imagery of gul (rose) and bulbul (nightingale) in mugham, and the situation
of each art with respect to historically segregated gendered audiences. Carpet can be
seen as a constructed signifier of the historical and cultural territorialization of
Azerbaijani women, the multiple borders of a carpet suggesting the physical and
cultural walls of the domestic space assigned to women. Conversely mugham,
travelling in space and covering an indefinite territory, perhaps represents the space
and motion traditionally associated with men. The images of the female weaver and
the male mugham performer correspond to the allegorical pair of gul and bulbul
commonly invoked in poetic and musical performances. The gul is a metaphor for a
woman / beautiful, stationary, and silent; the bulbul fluttering around the gul
represents the male, singing and full of motion. The gul in the midst of a gulistan
(garden) / the carpet depicting a garden paradise / is a woman situated within the
carpet space. The name bulbul , nightingale, is traditionally given to the best (male)
singers of mugham.
54
The images are both individual and collective. Carpet is made by a single weaver
(her name is often woven into a corner design of the carpet) and mugham is based
upon individual improvisation. But a girl learns from her mother; and women
typically weave, clean and wash their carpets in groups (even today one frequently
sees such groups in the countryside, as well as in private inner gardens in cities or in
the backyards of large buildings). Mugham is traditionally performed by a trio.
Historically associated with male gatherings, mugham was involved in shaping male
public institutions such as mejlises, teahouses, segregated weddings and other
rituals.
55
In his musical journey through a mugham composition the singers voice gradually
rises to a high range, which indicates emotional elevation leading to ecstasy (spiritual,
artistic and/or sexual). High, intense male voices are greatly appreciated and
treasured. Now that women perform mugham, it is especially noticeable that the
range of esteemed male singers is equal to that of a female performer. Does this
suggest that, in segregated rituals, festivals, and gatherings, in the company of men,
mugham articulates the melancholy of mens separation, loss, and possibly
substitution? Does carpet, in female company, invoke images of lands and gardens
inaccessible to women living in prescribed spaces, thus encoding their losses and
substitutions / perhaps the loss of others and selves?
Though carpet and mugham embody and perhaps reinforce gender boundaries (by
acting as gendered others and thus counterbalancing separation), on the other hand,
the two art forms also serve as an agency of inter-gender communication. In male
gatherings, carpets signify and embody the absence of women, thus simultaneously
serving as their bodily representation. On the other hand, although women are
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physically separated from men by black curtains, tents, and walls within the houses,
they remain within the male sonic orbit and hear mugham. Penetrating these
boundaries, mugham reaches and fills the female space, while carpets cover male
territory, controlling and directing mans inspiration. Thus the two, mugham and
carpet, act as agents of communication, carrying on an intimate dialogue, in a
language of high intensity, both hermetic and yet explicit, concealing the fact of
communication and yet portraying Islamic paradise and everyday life, filled with
abstract figures and concrete references to the artists and their families / all woven
into an ornamented arabesque. Even in the present, when segregation between
women and men has been officially dismissed, carpet and mugham preserve the
intimacy of a language accessible to insiders who do not need to transcribe this
language in words.
Notes
[1] The concept of mugham encompasses mode, genre, composition, and mode of production.
See Naroditskaya (2003, 31/90).
[2] In Islam the concept of paradise links earthly and heavenly gardens. Walter Denny writes: In
every instance of oral decoration it is not possible to deduce the artists or patrons specic
intention to invoke the heavenly garden, but such symbolism was frequently if not invariably
implicit. Dennys (1991, 39, 90, 91, 98) examples of images of paradise include a number of
carpets.
[3] The idea of comparing mugham and carpet has been brewing in my work on mugham for
years. Shortly after my arrival in America, I was asked to introduce a collection of Azerbaijani
carpets at the Art Institute in Flint, Michigan. Compiling the material, I found that the best
way to present carpets was to let the visitors listen to mugham. Searching for recordings of
mugham, I realized that most of the covers of these recordings contained images of carpets.
Ever since, I have found references to the correspondence between the two art forms in
various sources, which led me to research this topic.
[4] Women have for centuries performed wedding songs, marsias (laments) and lullabies / a
repertoire based upon the mugham modal system, but they were not considered
performers of mugham compositions until the 20th century (Seidova 1981, 21; also
interviews with mugham singer Sakina Ismailova, 2002). Men, though they did not weave
carpets, were involved in dyeing wool and in creating some designs used in weaving.
Latif Kerimov, a major art and carpet expert of the 20th century, also wove carpets. The
gender division is perhaps responsible for the different status of mugham and carpet in
Azerbaijan and other Middle Eastern regions, mugham seen as an art form and carpet as a
craft.
[5] Mejnun, a legendary gure in the literature of Azerbaijan and elsewhere in the area, is a man
crazy because of love / an image with whom singers of mugham commonly identify
themselves. These poetic lines are used in the mugham Rast analysed in this paper (Swets
and Kleikamp 1993: 8). Investigating the connections between the patterns and structures of
a specic mugham and carpet, I consciously limited the scope of the comparison to musical
sound (without discussing the text) and visual form.
[6] Baku is known as the City of Winds.
[7] The transcription of mugham performances by contemporary Azerbaijani scholars itself
implies the Westernization of Azerbaijani culture. Musicologists who transcribe mughams
for their analysis acknowledge the approximation of any notated examples.
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[8] For instance, Arif Asadulayev, a kamancha player and master of mugham, versatile in both
improvised and written musical repertoire, taught me how to play Bayati Shiraz by
employing the traditional oral method. He also recorded the eight-minute composition for
me, encouraging me to use both his performance and transcription in my book on
Azerbaijani mugham. As I completed the transcription, we went over each note together.
After that, I asked Arif to repeat the composition. His second performance, though eight
minutes long and following the general outline of this mugham, was so different from the
rst recording that a trained musician unfamiliar with mugham tradition would nd it hard
to relate the transcription to Arif s second performance.
[9] In the course of my eldwork in 1997 and 2002, female weavers I interviewed commented
about singing while weaving. An art historian and herself a weaver, Kubra Aliyeva attested
that she herself saw Latif Kerimovs unpublished collection of corresponding carpet patterns
and melodies. Several musicologists discussed close ties between mugham and carpet
patterns; Hajar Babayeva commented on carpet as container of secret messages, and Aida
Huseinova about a cultural connection so obvious that it required no scholarly investigation.
[10] In undertaking the study of mugham, I am not dismissing the traditional theoretical tools
and models applied in specic cases, but I propose to borrow an instrument of analysis from
within the culture itself.
[11] For instance, his exploration of metaphors used in various cultures to describe pitch
(contrasting with and deconstructing the Western notion of high and low) opens the
door to an exploration of different mappings of musical perception (see Zbikowski 1997,
200/4, 2002, 74).
[12] On issues of music status in Islamic society, see Al Faruqi (1985), Qureshi (1997),
Naroditskaya (2003) and Nasr (1997).
[13] Folk songs are actually incorporated in metrical sections of mugham performances.
[14] For her husbands and grown up sons / horsemen leaving for long voyages / a woman wove
soft settles and hurjuns and while yearning for their return she spun yarn, tying the long
colourful threads into numerous knots.
[15] Since the early days of Islam, philosophers and musicians living in the area now called
Azerbaijan have explored the mugham modal system: the tonal collection, concepts of scales,
compositional devices, auditory effects, and cosmological meaning. Among them were
theorists such as Sa ad-Din Urmavi (1198/1283), Sharaf ad-Din Maragi (1327/88), Abdur
Rahman Jami (1414/92), Mir Movsum Navvab (1833/1918), and Hajibeyov (1885/1948).
[16] See Safarovas translation of Urmavi, Kitab al advar (Book of Circles) and Sharaya (The
Sharaya Treatise on Composition in Sa ad-Din Urmavi (1995)).
[17] In some Turkish kilims or at carpets, colour can be gradually lightened or brightened,
which is different from the colour scope of Azerbaijani carpets.
[18] See Azad et al. (2001, 40, 47/52) and Aliyeva (1987, 29/39).
[19] Traditionally colours were infused in bres in a boiling dye bath. Complementary colours
would take a few baths, which sometimes required weeks or months, after which the bres
were dried in the sun. Often in a village at roofs would still be covered by an extra storey
with a frame, from which were suspended skeins of bright-coloured yarn. Coloured by hand,
every thread varies subtly in tone throughout its length, creating a vibrancy of colour. Using
live organisms and blood borrowed from nature, making dyes by hand and checking them
by smell and taste / all signify the physical aspect of carpet and its closeness to nature.
[20] See photographs of various Pirabedils in Azadi et al . (2001, 220/33), Kerimov (1985, 7, 9),
and Aliyeva (1987, 110).
[21] The term avaz, like many other terms in Azerbaijani music, has various meanings.
Hajibeyov, identifying avaz and gushe as parts of mugham composition, differentiated them
by size (Mahmudova 1997, 21). Likewise Ramiz Zohrabov denes an avaz as a melodic
element smaller than a gushe (1992, 31/2).
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[22] Mahmudova denes the gushe as a theme thesis, an initial melodic statement that embodies
the main artistic idea of a mugham monody. She also characterizes it as an invariant model
stimulating the melodic, rhythmic, and dramatic development in a mugham composition
(1997, 9/35)
[23] This excerpt from Novruz Revenda, a piece that often precedes mugham Rast performed by
tar player Mansur Mansurov, was transcribed by composer Tog Guliyev. Mahmudova uses
it as an example of gushe (theme thesis) that consists of three avazes (1997, 21/3, 106).
[24] Kerimov catalogued the gures and the groups that ll the main eld between medallions
and other large gures. Each gure has its own name and belongs to a specic group of
carpets (Kerimov 1983a, 71/96).
[25] The ensemble carries the name of Jabbar Garyaghdi (1861/1944) (on the recording his name
is spelled as Karyagdy), one of the most well-known and respected khanandes in Azerbaijan.
Two of the performers, Mohlet Muslimov (tar) and Fakhraddin Dadashev (kamanche),
teach classes in mugham at the Azerbaijanian National Conservatory, where I received my
musical degrees. Since 1989 they have worked with the young and talented singer Zakhid
Guliev (daf) (Pan Records Ethnic Series 1993).
[26] This particular Shahnazarli was made in the late 19th century and is included in Kerimovs
collection (Kerimov 1985, 28).
[27] The only structural limitation that I considered was that it should not be a single-medallion
design that would not match the series of improvisations in a compound mugham
performance.
[28] The idea and outcome of the cross-mapping raise the question as to whether, for example,
Turkish carpet can be compared with Azerbaijani mugham, or Azerbaijani carpet can be
employed in analysis of Persian dastgah. The answer perhaps is that, at some general level,
such a comparison could be helpful to grasp common aesthetic principles and modes of
artistic expression throughout the region but that it would miss something essential, almost
secretive, in the densely ornamented line/melody of the two Azerbaijani art forms.
[29] Zohrabov introduces not a specic performance of mugham Rast , but structural and
thematic model of this mugham (1992, 44/107).
[30] The name and the picture of this motif are found in Kerimovs dictionary of carpet designs
and motifs (1985, 28/67). Luciano Coen also refers to this type of frame motif as the
simplied form of the running-dog motif (Coen and Duncan 1978, 94).
[31] See, for instance, Zohrabov (1992, 25/8). Zohrabov identies the introductory sections
(overture) and a conclusion, proposing several ways of dividing the mugham performance
into microcycles (ibid., 37).
[32] This and the following musical examples from the Dastgah Rast performed by Jabbar
Garyaghdi were notated by the author.
[33] Drawing a distinction between these various meanings, I will capitalize the word when
referring to the Maye section; I will use lower case when speaking about maye as a tonic
centre or main modal area.
[34] Gradually attention shifts as the observer sees the beautiful ornate details. The different
owers scattered throughout the main eld have their own names, such as sumah ower and
apple ower. Every little detail, motif, and loop has a signicance within its own local
tradition. See Kerimovs tables of patterns (1985, 29, 67).
[35] The interplay of F in the vocal line and F sharp in the instrumental part creates a sense of
modal ambiguity / each separate pattern in the carpet also exhibits its individual colour
combination with one colour possibly outlining the contour of the pattern in the overall
eld, the other lling the pattern, the third (and fourth, which may be close to the colour of
the eld) drawing internal motifs.
[36] Although to the Western ear the augmented second may sound like a harmonic minor, to
Azerbaijanians this tonal combination, along with a certain melodic pattern, signals the
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elements of mugham Shahnaz. Yet the modal implications are ambiguous, especially
considering that the vocal line avoids F sharp and later in the section opposes the
instrumental F sharp with an emphasis on F natural , thus creating the tonal split / F
natural/sharp.
[37] The arrows indicate the transition from one tonal centre to the other within one section.
[38] For example, Rang 2, beginning with a repeated encircling of A, shifts to a new area in the
mode kurdi and thus signals and prepares for the following improvisation, Kurdi . Inserted
between two sections of Kurdi , Rang 3 enters and accelerates the tonal battle (A and D),
dening the outcome (the ending on D), foreshadowing the coda of the second Kurdi . After
reinforcing the D, the improvisation in Kurdi turns to the initial Rast and consequently the
dichotomy of D/G with the end on the tonal pole G, which seems to be prepared for by a
short Rang 3. But there is more to this instrumental piece. Not only does this Rang
anticipate a temporal return to Rast , but it prepares the listener to hear the middle Tasnif 3.
The rang is performed in 4/4 metre and the tasnif is sung in 6/8, the two / dance-like rang
and song-like tasnif / switching their typical metrical features.
[39] Also writing about Persian music, During likewise remarks that the notion of equilibrium
brings peacefulness and softness created in the passage from one gushe to another, or from
one rhythm to another, or from one ethos to another (During and Mirabdolbaghi 1991,
96).
[40] Zohrabov, analysing dastgah Rast , writes: The section Valaieti in the key of fth from maye
Rast functions as a transitional section for the mugham-rast key, which is the fth of maye
(1992: 50).
[41] See Arnheim (1984), in which, referring to various art forms and music, he argues for the
compelling effect of symmetry and the dynamics of art pieces created by the interplay of
symmetrical and asymmetrical elements.
[42] Al Faruqi differentiates the role of ornamentation in Western and Eastern cultures (1978,
18).
[43] See Kerimovs catalogue of stylized human gures, animals, and owers (1983b, 11/20).
[44] On the subject of the Islamic prohibition of mimetic representation, see Grabar (1992, 19/
20, 63; 1973, 75/103) and Denny (1984, 137/3; 1991, 93/109).
[45] As I read these lines to my husband, he was looking at the carpet on the oor before our eyes
and suddenly pointed out asymmetrical borders on the carpet that we have had for years.
Following him, I found hidden birds (female and male) in the dense geometrical
symmetrical/asymmetrical main eld of this Azerbaijanian rug. As we looked at subtle
asymmetries in a sequence of nearly identical bird images, a mating ritual emerged from the
geometrical images!
[46] The word oxu used for singing is in fact translated as reading. See the chapter Mugham
is not music in Naroditskaya (2003, 19/29).
[47] See also Lakoff and Johnson on body-based categories and on embodied mind (1999, 25/
40).
[48] Kerimov, in his many works, does not raise the issue of gender and rarely refers to weavers as
women. Perhaps the association of weaving with womanhood is so apparent that only in few
places does he refer to, for example, three women [who] would usually work together on a
single rug, for example, mother, daughter, and daughter-in-law (Azadi et al . 2001, 49).
Hajibeyov, who as a professor at the conservatory and a composer encouraged young women
to enter the eld of musical performance, likewise did not typically mention the issue of
gender in his theoretical and critical works.
[49] Aliyeva presents the list of names of the male nominees who delivered those carpets to the
expositions and whose female family members, the weavers, remained anonymous (1987, 14,
99/101).
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[50] The State Museum of Azerbaijani Carpets and Decorative Applied Arts opened in 1967.
Named after Kerimov, it now holds nearly 10,000 items, mostly carpets. Kerimov was also
director of this museum. Another well-known male weaver is Kamil Aliyev, who made a
carpet portraying the poet Nasimi.
[51] The chuval to keep grain, the travelling hurjun, and the woven saddles are no longer
included (unless for antique collectors).
[52] During my eldwork in Azerbaijan, I collected videotapes of several urban gender-mixed
weddings as well as weddings taking place in male companies in both urban and rural areas.
Though mugham was performed in each of these weddings, and one wedding was attended
by singer Alim Gasimov, the performance of mugham in all of the gatherings did not take
typically over 10 to 15 minutes.
[53] Today performers of traditional mugham adapt melodies from contemporary pieces of
Azerbaijanian composers. Typical mugham performances today last around fteen minutes.
Collaboration with Western instruments, especially piano, affects the perception of the 17-
tone mugham scale.
[54] The current Azerbaijanian Minister of Culture, singer and composer Polad Bulbul, inherited
his name from his father Murtuz Mammadov, an outstanding performer of mugham, whom
people named bulbul in admiration of his talent.
[55] See Sugarman on the segregation of labour and music-making in Albanian Prespa
community (1997, 177, 79/100). She also discusses Albanian muabat and how it is
connected with socially constructed gender roles (ibid., 92, 136). Carol Silverman, in her
study of Balkan Muslim Rom musicians, raises the issue of spatial segregation in terms of
the inside womens world and the outside mens world, referring to high walls enclosing
the domestic courtyards (2003, 122/4). In the introduction to a collective monograph on
music and gender in Mediterranean cultures, Tulia Magrini suggests that as cultural
constructs, the view on the feminine and the masculine are context-bound, and, in general,
complementary, so that they regulate the encounter and the relationship between male and
female in a given setting (Magrini 2003, 6).
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Discography
Rast Dastgah, performed by Mugham Ensemble Jabbar Garyaghdi. 1993. PAN 2017CD. Leiden,
Netherlands: Pan Records Ethnic Series.
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