Pythagoras by Goatchrist

Dedicated to R. R. Givens, a man of great talent and understanding, and a significant inspiration in the creation of this album.

A concept album about Pythagorean teachings.

"Worlds" deals with Pythagorean metaphysics, namely the ontology of all existence - existence as 3 distinct planes, these being abodes of physicality (the physical world), abstractions (the dwelling of ideas, concepts and so forth) and the plane in which physicalities and abstractions are melded (as far as we know, this is limited to humans and their spheres of influence).

"The Tetractys" concerns the arrangement of the number ten by Pythagoras, into a form which he declared could comprehend all arithmetic proportion, and which can be augmented mathematically into a lambdoma, comprehending Pythagorean ratios and hence comprehending all harmonic proportions (Pythagoras' own tuning system being generated by the untempered perfect fifth, of ratio 3:2).

The focus of "Pythagorean Solids" is the five three-dimensional solids whose faces are regular polygons and who have an equal number of faces meeting at each vertex. Explored further are the links the Greek mind would have naturally made between these solids and the five pre-scientific 'elements': air, fire, earth, water and aether.

"Numbers" concerns Pythagorean theory of numbers and their symbology, justifying this throughout. Of greatest importance are Monad - the oneness, the God in the panentheistic sense, Duad - masculine and feminine, first to rebel against the divine Monad, Tetrad - the perfect number, being evenly even, and Tetractys - the most perfect number, the nature of number.

"Harmony of the Spheres" is a concept track pertaining to the Pythagorean idea of the same name; it was posited that the nature of ratios between the orbital radii of the celestial bodies produced harmonies when motion was considered. The Islamic tradition states that this grand planetary harmony, "musica universalis", was said to be heard exclusively by Pythagoras, who could hear it due to the purity of his mind and soul.

The track "Metempsychosis" deals with the Pythagorean attitude towards reincarnation, with the word itself literally meaning "transmigration of the soul". Due to the ontology of being (as described in "Worlds"), it was concluded that the self cannot be dependent on matter and thus cannot die when the physical body ends - and thus, as an abstract from, presence itself in other sentient, abstract-comprehending beings.

"The Death of Pythagoras" concludes the album with a retelling of the semi-mythical account of the demise of the Greek sage, including the source of conflict between Croton (Pythagoras' community in Southern Italy) and the neighbouring Sybaris.

Written and recorded in October - November 2019 in Leeds.
Instruments recorded at J. Guilherme's home studio.
Vocals recorded at V. Calin's home studio.
Mixed and mastered at J. Guilherme's home studio.

Experimental musical entity expounding Kabbalistic truth.

Leeds, U.K.