In an album of world-premiere recordings, composer Ingibjörg Azima unveils her unique settings of Icelandic poetry.

Logn is one of 16 Icelandic words for 'calm', a theme that is explored in multifaceted detail in Azima's songs, which reflect the glacial mystery of her homeland. Each song is performed by soprano Margrét Hrafnsdóttir, accompanied by the Azima Ensemble, an intimate group of Icelandic musicians including Azima herself on the trombone.

Many of these songs are evocative of the 'calm' of the album title: 'Rest' and 'Tranquillity' are heard alongside nocturnal themes: 'Summer night', 'To the night' and Næturferð - 'Nocturnal journey'. The specific calm of nature, too, is brought to life in songs of 'Birds' and 'The spring in the meadows'. Azima's affinity with poetry has always been as powerful as her connection to music, and her love of each nuance of these texts is communicated in these deeply sensitive settings. Azima paints with a subtle palette of colours in original instrumental combinations, using various groupings of piano, cello, flute/alto flute, and bass clarinet, as well as her own instrument.

Iceland is producing some of the most exciting contemporary music of our time, and Odradek is proud to champion this mesmerising new repertoire. Many of the musicians featured on this recording have studied and performed all over the world, but are drawn together by their Icelandic roots and by their shared understanding of this poetry, filtered through the lens of Ingibjörg Azima's imagination.