An organ concerto that you want to hear again as soon as the last note has faded away – Austrian composer Bernd Richard Deutsch (born 1977) achieved this with his monumental four-movement work “Okeanos” for organ and orchestra (2014/15).

To mark the 10th anniversary of the world premiere at the Vienna Musikverein with Wolfgang Kogert as soloist on the new Rieger organ in the famous Golden Hall and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stefan Asbury, a digital album is now being released on the Munich label Solo Musica.

In the unique acoustics of the Vienna Musikverein, the concert was able to unfold its full effect, also due to the high quality of the performance, and thrilled audiences and critics alike: “Everything is brought into a captivating dramaturgy, in which melodic particles and complex rhythms, virtuoso passages, roaring chords and transparent chamber music dialogues interlock logically, as in a well-oiled gear train, despite all the surprises in detail,” was written in the Austrian daily newspaper “Die Presse”.

No wonder the work immediately found its way into the international concert repertoire and has so far been performed in Cleveland, Stavanger, Stockholm and Berlin. Each of the extremely complex and varied four movements is assigned to one of the four elements: water, air, earth and fire. This is typical of Deutsch’s music, which is considered by many to be a stroke of luck for the contemporary music world: Approachable despite its complexity and simultaneously demanding and accessible due to its appealing harmonies and rhythms. This is appreciated by renowned orchestras from Japan to the USA – and by the Berliner Philharmoniker, who have also put Deutsch on their programme this season.