CoolTop20: New Release – Leaves On The Wind by Johan Famaey ft. Charlotte Campion

by Lean at CoolTop20

https://cooltop20.com

‘Leaves on the wind’ is collaboration between Charlotte Campion, Johan Famaey, María Cecilia Alguacil and Helen Grant. 

The music was composed by Johan Famaey. Johan Famaey is a Belgian composer and pianist. He performed and composed countless works with and for different ensembles in Europe and China. He has won the ‘Verdi Keurmerk’ and ‘Cantabile Piano’ composition contests in 2019.

The lyrics for the song were written by Helen Grant.

The vocalist, Charlotte Campion, is a Flemish actress and musical star. After her training in Word Arts-Drama at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven, Charlotte went to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels for Musical.

Here’s what Johan Famaey had to say about his new release:

“I’ve met Helen in 2012 and María and Mariana in 2020 all by means of Instagram and Facebook. I’ve also met Charlotte Campion in 2020 when I was looking for a musical voice to sing the EP. Charlotte is a phenomenal Belgian musical star.”

“‘Leaves On The Wind’ has been originally composed as being part of the musical Chang’E. Chang’E is the Chinese moon goddess. Her story is a tragic one, and is the background of the Chinese Moon Festival. Hou Yi, her lover and a great hero, obtained the life elixir. He gave it to Chang’E and asked her to wait to take it because he had to go on another quest. Hou Yi didn’t show up for years and Chang’E couldn’t resist anymore: she took all of the elixir, although she was supposed to take only half of it. As a result, she became feather light and floated to the moon. On the moon, she realizes that all is lost, that she will be alone for eternity. ‘Leaves On The Wind’ takes place at this moment.”

“Helen Grant, an award-winning author of eight novels living in Scotland, wrote the lyrics in 2012, the same year when the music was composed. Her work is very much inspired by history and folklore. It was Helen’s interest in folklore which prompted me to approach Helen about writing lyrics for songs about the Chinese legend of Chang’E.”

“Helen says ‘Leaves On The Wind’ is a kind of lament for the passing of time. Chang’E wonders whether the love she and Hou Yi share can survive them both becoming old. Helen feels that this is the situation we all face: ageing brings changes, often unwelcome, and sometimes regrets. The song describes the scent of as, sand running through the hands, and a river running down the sea, where its waters will be lost in the greater volume of the ocean – all things which describe the melancholy of mortality.”

“The orchestra is Budapest Scoring which was specifically hired to make recordings for ‘Leaves On The Wind’.”

María Cecilia Alguacil has created a music video consisting of footage from the different recording sessions with the Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra, Charlotte Campion and myself on the piano. María is a graphic designer and audiovisual post producer from Mendoza, Argentina. She has made several music videos and prefers to work on videoclips in this field.”

‘Leaves On The Wind’ is part of the EP ‘Stories’ which will be released on 3rd September. Here’s the pre-save link for the EP ‘Stories’.

“On the EP there are also songs with lyrics by Mariana Roque (Brazil) for ‘Bedtime Story’ and ‘Le Crotoy’ and by Georges Van Damme for ‘Bedverhaal’ and ‘Le Crotoy’ (Dutch version).”

(This article first appeared on https://cooltop20.com on 31 August 2021.)