The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony

The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony
Studio album by Dave Greenslade
Released 1979 (1979)
Genre Progressive rock
Length 77:59
Label EMI
Producer Robin Lumley, Patrick Woodroffe
Dave Greenslade chronology
Cactus Choir
(1976)		 The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony
(1979)		 From The Discworld
(1995)

The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony is a concept album and multimedia project by Patrick Woodroffe and Dave Greenslade, released in 1979. The project combines a hardback book (conceived, written and illustrated by Woodroffe) and a double vinyl album of music (written and performed by Greenslade). The title means, approximately, 'the first five books (pentateuch) of the creation (cosmogony)'.

The story and artwork within 'Pentateuch' concerns the discovery of an abandoned spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter, and the project to decipher the ideograms in the pentateuch 'document' discovered within. Most of the book is a retelling of the document, in much the same way as a modern translator might retell the contents of a Babylonian tablet or Egyptian papyrus scroll. Particularly remarkable is the combinatorial ideographic script created by Woodroffe and used throughout the artwork.

Greenslade contributes the 74 minutes of music as his second solo project, enlisting Phil Collins amongst others to help.

A CD reissue was released in 1994, achieving the awkward transfer of Woodroffe's 12" x 12" book into a 5" square booklet with some success, though the impact of some of the artwork is lost, and the end of one track is faded out early.

The story was retold without music in Woodroffe's 1987 book The Second Earth. This featured additional artwork and was rewritten with extended prose replacing the original verse form. The additional artwork is not always as closely linked to the story as the original selection. A Japanese edition was also published.

Track listing (Double LP & CD version)

Side 1

  1. "Introit" – 4:05
  2. "Moondance" – 3:09 (CD version – original LP version is longer)
  3. "Beltempest" – 2.:41
  4. "Glass" – 3:02
  5. "Three Brides" † – 5:56

Side 2

  1. "Birds & Bats & Dragonflies" ‡ – 3:48
  2. "Nursery Hymn" ♦ – 3:32
  3. "The Minstrel" ‡ – 2:42
  4. "Fresco/Kashrinn" – 2:24
  5. "Barcarole" † – 3:51
  6. "Dry Land" – 3:54

Side 3

  1. "Forest Kingdom" † – 3:53
  2. "Vivat Regina" – 3:44
  3. "Scream but Not Heard" – 2:57
  4. "Mischief" ‡ – 5:36
  5. "War" †‡ – 3:06

Side 4

  1. "Lament for the Sea" † – 3:08
  2. "Miasma Generator" † – 5.23
  3. "Exile" – 2.33
  4. "Jubilate" – 3.00
  5. "The Tiger and the Dove" – 5.35

All titles composed and played by Dave Greenslade except percussion played by Phil Collins in tracks marked with † and by John Lingwood in tracks marked with ‡. Vocals on the track ♦ Nursery Hymn by Kate Greenslade (age 2 years and 6 months).

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