Listen Silent

I was reading a short story by Al Alvarez about the pianist Alfred Brendel and he was talking about listening and how important to his music silence is, and how the two work together. He was further intrigued, as was I, by the fact that listen is an anagram of silent.

Silence, is part of the mountain walking experience, but you don’t always register it. When you do, it is quite special. As is the breaking of the silence by a sudden gust of wind, a murmering stream, the song of a skylark.

One of my go to quiet places, being based in Keswick, is the area known as ‘Back o’ Skidda’, the inspiration for the image. The heathery moorland and tussocky grass are ideal nesting ground for skylarks. I could have called the image ‘The Lark Ascending’ after the Vaughan Williams masterpiece.