Throughout their long partnership as a Lied Duo, Ivonne Fuchs and Anna Christensson have always looked for a fresh approach and new ways to tie this more traditional genre to the present, which led them to ask Svante Henryson to compose a song cycle. Henryson was inspired to use 24 poems from Mirrors of Absence by Faraj Bayrakdar. Characterised by strong rhythms and melodies from the world of art music, rock and jazz, Henryson’s setting creates compelling friction between words and music. Faraj Bayrakdar, a Syrian journalist, author and poet was accused of being a member of a unauthorized Party, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was held incommunicado and subjected to torture for nearly seven years. Noted down on cigarette papers, Bayrakdar’s verses were smuggled out and published in Paris. As The Prisoner in Cell 13, he transports us to the Saidnaya military prison, a journey that illustrates the unthinkable related in a language of darkness and stone. He speaks of sorrow and longing for freedom. No bitterness, but accusations ring out: “If the gods truly were gods, they would never settle for a lesser sacrifice than that demanded by a tyrant”.