Sveinn Lúðvík Björnsson (b. 1962):
"...He works methodically, slowly, never rushing; consequently, his works do not run to large numbers. They are always short, never lasting a second longer than necessary. They do not contain many notes, but each note is in the right place in space and time. Everything is of prime significance, and all the notes in the work are equally important.

...The music itself, which lies between two notes - the former rousing an expectation and the latter eliciting a memory - often seems to come from immensely far away, from somewhere in the depths of the soul. These works have been rocked in the cradle of the infinite expanses of the mind. On the surface, they are calm, but down below they are in turmoil. They are gentle and threatening at the same time." (Atli Heimir Sveinsson)

The Music (titles in English translation):

• Sunshafts (1990) for flute
• Tranquillity (1989) for violin
• Ripples (1994) for clarinet
• From a Pink Buoy (1992) for piano
• The Silence in the Thunder (1990) for flute and guitar
• Trunkless Branches (1989) for flute
• Two (1992) for viola
• Asepsis (1994) for cello and piano
• Leaving a Shadow - in Memory of My Father (1991) for alto/bass flutes and guitar
• Quintet (1996) for flutes, clarinet, violin, cello and piano
• Ego is Emptiness (1997) for cello and voice

Most of the pieces are dedicated to - and were premiered by - the performers that play the music on this CD:

• Daníel Þorsteinsson, piano
• Guðmundur Kristmundsson, viola
• Guðni Franzson, clarinet
• Hildigunnur Halldórsdóttir, violin
• Kolbeinn Bjarnason, flutes
• Páll Eyjólfsson, guitar
• Sigurður Halldórsson, cello and voice

Recordings were made by Icelandic National Broadcasting Service in Víðistaðakirkja in December 1996, except "The Ego is Emptiness" (recorded in august 1997), which is like a postlude to all the other pieces.

Producer: Bjarni Rúnar Bjarnason
Engineers: Hreinn Valdimarsson and Hjörtur Svavarsson.