Gaia Henning Fuchs

• Henning Fuchs:
• 1Gaia Rises02:47
• 2The Storm Will Pass04:03
• 3Time Drops03:56
• 4Pacha Mama02:47
• 5Protozoa04:44
• 6Flying River03:48
• 7Thrive02:59
• 8Miracle of Life04:53
• 9The Tribe01:48
• 10Home03:12
• 11Flying River (Reprise)03:42
• Total Runtime38:39

Info for Gaia

As a teenager, Henning Fuchs wanted to be a Greenpeace activist, impeding ships, drills and rigs from assaulting earth. But, dissuaded by his high- school biology grades, he chose to become a composer instead. His portfolio and back-catalogue are proof that Henning probably made the right choice, having been involved in several renowned albums, awarded film scoring and dance projects with the likes of Max Richter, Wim Wenders and Wayne McGregor. Yet the recent years saw the musician renew his teenage interest in the environment, as he embarked in a wide-reaching study of scientific theories and spiritual teachings about our planet. His investigation culminated in GAIA, his latest album.

GAIA is a concept album in the truest sense, and at its core is the ancient understanding of earth as a living organism. The indiginous peoples of the Andes idealised it as the deity Pachamama, the ancient Greeks, Gaia, and the concept was first expounded scientifically by James Lovelock in his 1970s work, the Gaia Hypothesis. All these wisdoms old and new, consider the totality of Mother Nature as encompassing both living and geological systems and their complex interconnectedness. In this sense, earth is no longer just a rock we, humans, reside in, but rather an active and self-regulating organism which can create, wound and heal itself, and of which we are a part of, “whether you look at it scientifically or spiritually: the understanding of planet earth as a living being is crucial for our survival as a species,” says Henning.

There’s obviously an urgency to Henning Fuchs’ album - faced with unprecedented levels of carbon emissions, deforestation and extinction plus a pandemic which has distanced and divided us, reminding ourselves that we are part of one and the same living organism is a timely call for unity. The music, however, is gentle in conveying such a pressing topic. In taking the billion-year perspective of earth, “saving the planet” becomes an infantile and presumptuous plea. What we can do, GAIA seems to say, is try to live harmoniously within this organism that has been here before us, and will surely continue to exist after us. “Peace is only possible with everyone. We must learn how to understand each other. This is the message of GAIA,” says Henning.

Expressed through the album’s tracks is a narrative of the earth’s creation and evolution. From its birth in the powerful opening track, Gaia Rises, to its geological transformations - volcanic eruptions and the creation of oceans - up to the appearance and flourishing of life on the planet given form in the melodic Spanish guitar of Thrive, and the formation of early societies in the folk-driven track, The Tribe. The album feels like a sonic time-lapse of earth, filled with all the diverse stories and characters - storms, rivers, unicellular organisms, humans - that constitute this grand narrative. As listeners, we are guided through darkness, wonder and awe-inspiring beauty and become humbled by how small we are at the sound of it all. By the time we have reached Home, the album’s serene closing track, there’s a comforting sense of acceptance of our role, “Gaia doesn’t just live on the outside – Gaia is within us,” explains Henning.

Despite its clear dramaturgy, GAIA isn’t just a soundtrack to a story. The actual creation and evolution of the album - its recording process and all the collaborations therein involved – embodies the themes of transformation, diversity and cooperation necessary and present in earth’s own evolution. “At the start, I had a clear concept in mind, but it changed, like earth itself. It collapsed and something new came from it. It's always evolving,” says Henning. Allowing the musicians space and freedom to properly contribute in the music also meant tracks grew and developed by their own logic and organically, “The choice of musicians was really very important, and it was important that they felt happy with what they were doing rather than just playing what I had written.” says Henning, who assembled a series of notable musicians and an impressive array of world instruments for the project. Amongst others, GAIA counts with the participation of Chinese musician Guo Gan playing the erhu and zhonghu, the Spaniard Julián Olivares on the flamenco guitar and charango, the German David Kuckhermann on handpans, udu and other percussions, the Icelandic violin player Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, as well as the choir, Bulgarian Voices Berlin. “I wanted to bring together cultural elements from all over the world together by using “down to earth“ elements and sounds.”

With GAIA, Henning Fuchs has attempted to capture earth in all its fertility, its wild diversity and its past and ongoing transformations. Stylistically as well as instrumentally he has achieved what can be called world music. For someone who has worked with film scoring for a large part of his career, it’s not surprising that there is a visual and cinematic quality to Henning Fuchs’ music. Contrary to his previous work, however, in GAIA the visual seems to be subsumed by a larger emotional narrative. Like every atom, being and system in earth itself, every track, instrument and arrangement in the album is throbbing with life.

Henning Fuchs

Henning Fuchs
is composer, performer and multi-instrumentalist. As bandleader and lead singer of various bands he started writing songs at the age of 14. Always looking for new styles he crosses borders between jazz, funk, punk, folk, classic, avant-garde and electronics.

After graduating at Sir Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts Henning moved to Berlin. In the midst of Berlin's creative art scene he soon started writing for bands, ensembles, contemporary dance and film.

Henning Fuchs’ work includes concert music, film scoring, songwriting and various album productions. His songs and instrumental compositions have been nominated and awarded many times and embrace a wide range of styles and genres. Henning collaborates with various artists from all over the world. 2015 he performed with the orchestra of the composers' association of the Sverdlovsk region (Urals) at the Gala event for the 10th anniversary of the German Consulate General in Yekatarinburg, Russia.

Between 2012-16 Henning worked closely with Max Richter on film, album and dance related projects, including Wayne McGregor’s „Woolf Works“ at the Royal Opera House London. Henning also collaborated with artists such as Alexandre Desplat on Wim Winders „Everything will be fine“, Dan Mangan & Jesse Zubot on Peter Chelsom’s „Hector and the search for happiness“ or Karsten Fundal on Ai Weiwei’s „Human Flow“.

Henning received a Diploma as „Film Composer“ at the Film University Babelsberg „Konrad Wolf“ and a Bachelor’s Degree of Arts with Honours, Class I, in Performing Arts (Music) at Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. He also initiated an exchange program with the Royal College of Music London and took masterclasses with renowned film composers such as Patrick Doyle, Howard Shore and Michael Giacchino.

This album contains no booklet.