For some time, a period of long-recapitulation, I have been reflecting on a player of my acquaintance, who recently described themselves as “extremely ambitious and arrogant”.

Arrogant, yes, but too decent a person for this to become hubris. And, somewhat older, a sufficient quality of person to recognise and acknowledge their arrogance; while not (in my experience) becoming free of its underlying hold.

A Quiet Point hides/conceals itself from us, until ambition releases its hold on our activity – outward behaviour in the world and our internal functions of thinking, feeling, the sensation of physical relaxation. Arrogance is loud. Until we become a little freer of its grasp, we will not hear quiet speaking to us.

It is not in the nature of quiet to shout.

Presence establishes itself around a Quiet Point, a Point Of Repose, within ourselves. The demands of ambition, of seeking to be recognised and acknowledged in the manner in which we see ourselves – and know we deserve! – are noisy.

Until I am quiet, I am unable to listen. Quiet is not a natural state for many. For those whose intention is to hear Music, to serve Music, we begin by approaching quiet. This is a practice, and takes time to establish in our lives. Once established, to a degree, we find through quiet a quality of Silence becomes available to us.

In time, we learn to trust Silence and the forms in which it speaks to us. But Silence-speaking is a subtle affair, and we discover levels of Silence. The deeper the Silence, the richer the experience.

We often mistake silence for the absence of sound. Silence has presence. Silence is rich, within which all that might be said has not yet been spoken.

Or so it seems to me, this cold, bright morning in Middle England.

Robert Fripp
Friday 11th. October, 2024;
Middle England.