I dag og I morgen (2023)
(Today and Tomorrow)

Today and Tomorrow is a live radio play, where the audience encounters two actors on stage alongside the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. The work combines text and music in a form of orchestral theatre – not theatrical in the sense of movement or staging, but as a story told equally through words and music. My ambition is for the music and the text to be equal partners, both contributing to the narrative experienced by the listener – and where neither element can tell the story on its own.

The text grows out of my work as an author: in 2022, I published the novel Konfirmasjon, which explores the relationship between a father and a daughter. This relationship is also the starting point for Today and Tomorrow: We meet a father and daughter at home in their kitchen, preparing dinner while listening to a concert broadcast from Olavshallen (featuring the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, of course!). Through their conversation over the stove, we gain insight into their relationship and how various life events leave their mark, making the bond between parent and child something deeply vulnerable – a connection that shapes us and stays with us, whether we are adults or children.

The music shifts between quotations from and playful engagement with the classical music canon – naturally at home in a place like Olavshallen – while innovative sounds add colour and perspective to the unfolding story. The soundscape alternates between the familiar and the exploratory, echoing the evolving dialogue between father and daughter. I hope the performance will resonate with both young listeners and seasoned concertgoers, whether it’s their first visit to Olavshallen or they’ve followed the orchestra throughout a lifetime.

Eivind Buene, 2024