"I’d also just like to see if Peter Engel perhaps would tell us a bit more. I
think in Folding the Universe you quote Yoshizawa on the same subject… and
Arthur L Loeb mentions music in the introduction too.
Peter it would be interesting if you can remember - was there a conversation
with Yoshizawa specifically on this subject? Did you arrive at this idea
together or independently? . . . Here’s a Yoshizawa quote from Peter’s book:
“Learning those traditional models is just like playing music written by other
composers, and origami books are still like that. But it's very hard to go from
that style into free and creative origami. It's not a matter of time. People
who can't create won't create, even if they spend the whole of their lives.”
—Lee Armstrong
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Hi Lee,
I’m delighted that you’re familiar with Folding the Universe, including the
Foreword by my wonderful professor and mentor, Arthur Loeb. I reread my
interview with Yoshizawa (it’s been a long time) and found these references to
music in addition to the one you quote:
“Of course it helps to start young. To be a composer, for example, the child
needs exposure to music, though it doesn’t mean he himself has to be a good
piano player.”
“When I do origami, I listen to nature, not with these ears but with the ears
of my heart.”
The second is not strictly about music, but it’s very clear that Yoshizawa drew
inspiration from everything around him in both the natural and human-made world.
In his Foreword, Arthur Loeb mentions music in reference to the text in my
book. Loeb was truly a polymath, highly accomplished as a musician, dancer,
crystallographer, mathematician, and overall synthesizer of many disciplines.
He used to demonstrate to us the connection between folk-dancing and the
geometry of crystals, which seemed like a bit of a stretch until he graphically
analyzed for us the patterns made by people moving around the dance floor.
Loeb was a good friend of M.C. Escher’s during Loeb’s early years in the
Netherlands and of Buckminster Fuller's during Loeb’s long tenure at Harvard.
I encourage everyone to google him to learn more.
In conclusion, it is hardly surprising to me that many people with diverse
interests in the arts and sciences would recognize the strong connection
between origami and music.
Best, Peter