Robert Fripp's Diary

Bredonborough La la la la

19.10

Bredonborough.

La la la la la la la…

So that’s what the bookshelves were for: the collection of Punch.

Circularity: the leather-bound volumes, of the first 100 volumes of Punch, belonged to the lady who bought Fernhill House from me in the Fripp-family village of Witchampton (1987). She was the (then) recently-widowed Mother-in-Law of a Sherborne House person who lives near Blandford & who leads a Bennett study group, presently attended by the Guitar Craft person responsible for presenting themes. The volumes were put into the Woolley & Wallis’ auction Rooms in Salisbury, rather than go to Fernhill, where I bought them & took them to Reddish House. A roundabout move, then. And the sombre-looking Victorian gentleman very likely read many of the same Punches now before him, but on their release.

The Back Door…

One of England’s 100 Best Churches (on the bookstand) is Wimborne Minster, where once the young Fripp was a server…

Dramatic Skies…

Up in the night practising & a day continuing to recover. I always feel vulnerable when returning home jet-lagged, and particularly so on this return from Nashville. This is also a reflective time, given the events of last week. If I knew that tomorrow I would be dead, would this be my life today? A good question, even a very good question. Possibly, the very best question one might ask oneself.

Now, the first e-flurry of my return.

19.50  Hernan has sent a report from the GC Level Three at the Monasterio Nuestra Senora De Los Angeles (Monjas Dominicas), Sant Cugat, Spain (underway since 15th. July)…

We have a very good relationship to the Dominican Sisters here in the Monastery, Mother Superior is very supportive, there’s a team that we can see working around, there are defined times to speak to them if something is needed, there’s another team of younger Sisters that never leave their section of the building, are not allowed to speak nor to have contact with the outer world, therefore we don’t have access to these sections. We do have access to the small chapel in our part of the building, also the church next door is open to us and we were invited to perform one piece during the mass yesterday morning. This went very well, the Priest was most happy, and we’ll be performing 3 pieces… during tomorrow’s service, and 3 pieces of our choice after the Mass. We have seldom had access to perform in Catholic Churches…

Other performances in churches, asylums, hospitals, homes of the

elderly, etc are planned for the last week of the Course.

I did not accept professional offers for The LCG this time… we’ll be performing acoustic… around the provincial area in clear social service situations…

Silence visits constantly, almost at all meals.

The most significant point of Hernan’s report for me is that GC performance has moved into the space & place where music properly belongs: firstly, the sacred; secondly, the community. Professional performance is an aspect of Purgatory, one function of which to prepare us for proper work.