What does it mean to compose for orchestra? Which rules apply, which ones do you want to break? Three new works for the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra answer these questions in their own individual ways.

Sara Stevanović, finalist of the Ö1 Talentebörse Composition Prize, focuses on social dimensions and views the orchestra as a "speaking body". Peter Ablinger composed his last orchestral work for ORF musikprotokoll just a few months before his death in April 2025: The spiral - as in spiral staircase - doubles the orchestra electronically and relies on the tension between sounds played live and manipulated sounds that slowly turn away.

For the Irish composer Ailís Ní Ríain, being a deaf/hard of hearing composer is in itself a breach of the rules. She creates an almost tangible world of sound for the RSO Vienna under the direction of Zimbabwe-born conductor Vimbayi Kaziboni. Her piece invites the audience to perceive music visually and gesturally.