Kept quiet, uncommunicative (9)
I believe the answer is:
preserved
'kept' is the definition.
(preserving is a kind of keeping)
'quiet uncommunicative' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'quiet' could be 'p' (music symbol for 'piano', ie soft or quiet) and 'p' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'reserved' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for preserved that I've seen before include "Kept in an unaltered condition" , "Maintained in an unaltered condition" , "Prevented from decaying or spoiling" , "Prevented from decay" , "Kept safe from harm" .)