Silence is disturbing. It is disturbing because it is the wavelength of the soul. If we leave no space in our music, and I'm as guilty as anyone else in this regard, then we rob the sounds we make of a defining context. It is often music born from anxiety to create more anxiety. It is as if we're afraid of leaving space.
Great music is as much about the space between the notes as it is about the notes themselves.
A bar's rest is as important and significant as a bar of demisemiquavers that precedes it. What I'm trying to say here is that if ever I'm asked if I'm religious, I always reply that, yes, I'm a devout musician. Music puts me in touch with something beyond the intellect, something otherworldly, something sacred. These pieces speak to me in the only religious language I understand. It's very hard to talk about music in words.