Gaïa

Gautier Capuçon’s cello becomes the voice of the Earth in an inspired album of world premiere recordings: Gaïa. Uniting seventeen original contributions by sixteen contemporary composers, this project sets out to explore humanity’s relationship to nature through a multifaceted lens, drawing from different musical genres, aesthetics, and cultural influences as well as the formidable contrasts of the natural world. 

“Each track gives its own voice to the cello, immersing us in the power and depth of nature and the Earth, the source of life,” Gautier explains. “In each piece, it is the Earth that expresses itself in music: sometimes fragile, sometimes majestic, always essential. … This album is also a song of warning, a hymn to this threatened beauty, a prayer for future generations.” 

Taking its name from the Greek goddess of Earth and mother of all life, Gaïa showcases diverse new works by some of the most innovative composers of the modern age, from luminaries in the field—such as Max Richter, Ludovico Einaudi, and Joe Hisaishi—to brilliant emerging talents, including Armand Amar, Jasmine Barnes, Olivia Belli, Quenton Blache, Michael Canitrot, JB Dunckel, Missy Mazzoli, Gabriela Montero, Nico Muhly, Xavier Foley, and Ayanna Witter-Johnson. 

Bryce Dessner contributes two kindred pieces, “Towards the Light” and “Towards the Forest”, each inspired by oft-overlooked landscape and nature paintings by Edvard Munch (famous for The Scream), while fellow Warner Classics & Erato artist Abel Selaocoe joins Gautier in “Toro Tsa Kwa”, a musical expression of what the composer-musician describes as “our gratefulness for being born, the small probability of being alive and taking care of the very land that feeds us.”

The roots of this project grew from San Francisco, where Gautier Capuçon gave a concert with the San Francisco Symphony and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas just before the adversities of the pandemic swept across the world. Inspired by a conversation with his friend and longtime supporter of the arts Michèle Corash, he envisioned Gaïa unlike any musical project that he had created before: a coalescence of contemporary voices from around the world, a tribute to the beautiful complexities of the Earth. He also drew from his own upbringing in the Savoie department of France, nestled in the pastoral heart of the French Alps and home to rolling landscapes and soaring peaks, including Europe’s tallest summit: the magnificent Mont Blanc. It was here that his childhood dream to climb this snow-topped mountainside was born, which he has fulfilled in a stunning visual masterpiece produced for the opening track of this album. 

A number of notable guest musicians appear alongside Gautier to bring these world-premiere recordings to life. Like Abel Selaocoe, who joins with electronics for his original work, composers Ayanna Witter-Johnson (cello and vocals), Olivia Belli (piano), and Michael Canitrot (electronics) also perform on their own contributions. Also featured are pianists Jérôme Ducros and Frank Braley, vocalist Sarah Rebecca, and Gautier’s Capucelli cello ensemble of young musicians: Aurélien Pascal, Jeein You, Caroline Sypniewski, Anouchka Hack, Francesco Tamburini, and Leo Ispir. The music of Gaïa embraces the riveting honesty of nature, celebrating its strength as much as its fragility, its staggering force and tender serenity, optimism for its future as well as caution for its care. Gautier calls the album a “musical, human adventure”—a medium in which “the cello becomes a messenger, a heart vibrating to the rhythm of nature.” 

Special thanks to the San Francisco Symphony and the generous donors who helped bring this project to life.