Cantat Ergo Sumus combines Oxford philosophy professor Paul Lodge’s interests in philosophy and music. He is joined by leading lights of Oxford’s psychedelic/drone/experimental music scene Flights of Helios, with whom he has been working on the project with the aid of a Theatre Seed Fund Grant from TORCH (The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities).

Cantat Ergo Sumus is a play on Descartes’ famous ‘Cogito ergo sum’. It means: ‘It Sings Therefore We Are’, where the ‘It’ is the mysterious source which brings us to life through the gift of song. The show consists of settings of a number of philosophical poems from the writings of figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Margaret Cavendish, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Hildegard von Bingen. The audience will also be treated to a selection of songs from Paul’s and Flights of Helios’ back catalogues.

Paul Lodge is a professor of philosophy at Oxford University who has been writing and performing music on the side for 30 years or so. Among his recent projects is ‘Shakespeare in the Alley’, a set of original songs based on Shakespeare’s plays, which he performed at numerous venues, including the Old Fire Station, The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford, and Mansfield College Oxford. His most daunting performance to date was at a dinner for Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2018.

Flights of Helios have charmed Glastonbury and Wilderness audiences with their possessed take on psychedelic folk and post-rock. Steve Lamacq and Don Letts selected recent single Magpie/Beast for BBC 6 Music, adding to previous airplay for debut album ‘Endings’ by Gideon Coe (BBC 6 Music), John Kennedy (Radio X) and Simon Raymonde of Bella Union Records (Amazing Radio). The band has also soundtracked landmark 1920s animated film ‘The Adventures of Prince Achmed’ under commission from University of Oxford, and contributed to Shakespeare-themed folk album ‘The Food Of Love Project’(2017). For fans of Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Nick Cave, Pink Floyd and Fairport Convention.

“Anyone who has caught [Flights of Helios] live will know they can be truly transcendental… On this evidence, the sun moon and stars are well within reach.” – Oxford’s Nightshift

“Fantastic… drawn out, drenched in drone… worth keeping your ears peeled for.” – Drowned in Sound (review of Flights of Helios’ Truck Festival set)