Received an email From Paul McCartney This Morning

winston · Post by **winston** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 9:23 am

Did anyone else get an e-mail from Paul today? It was a rather interesting.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 9:36 am

Um....no! What did it say?

beefandbones · Post by **beefandbones** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 9:39 am

Says he's got a new classical pipes of peace I mean piece in the pipes.

winston · Post by **winston** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 9:46 am

Here's the actual text:

Paul McCartney releases his new full-length work of classical music Ecce Cor Meum through EMI Classics on 25th September 2006. Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart) is Paul’s fourth classical album since his first released in 1991, The Liverpool Oratorio.

Ecce Cor Meum has been more than eight years in the making and its origins follow in the historic tradition of composers that have been commissioned to write music for the world-renowned Magdalen College Oxford. Paul was specially invited by Anthony Smith (President of Magdalen College 1998 – 2005) to compose something to set the seal on a new concert hall for the college. His hope was for ‘a choral piece which could be sung by young people the world over in the same way that Handel’s Messiah is’.

Ecce Cor Meum, an Oratorio in four movements, is scored for choir and orchestra. The text combines both English and to a lesser degree, Latin. Paul’s knowledge of Latin comes from his classical education at The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys, where he had learnt three languages by the time he was 12. Paul says: “Not all of this has been retained over the years as my path went in other directions, but my love of language remains, and as Latin is known and sung by choirs all over the world, I felt it would be appropriate to use at times during the piece.”

Like many great composers Paul, started with the music and then looked for a subject that fits. Several ideas for lyrics occurred to him, but they only gelled when he took part in a concert of John Tavener’s music in the Church of St Ignatius Loyola in New York. “While I was waiting to do my bit, I was looking around the church and I saw a statue, and underneath it was written ‘Ecce Cor Meum’. I had done some Latin at school and I always had a fondness for it. So I worked it out. I believe it means Behold My Heart”.

In November 2001, the first version of Ecce Cor Meum was given its first preview performance by the Magdalen College Choir, which was conducted by Bill Ives at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford. This was a great learning experience for Paul. “Eventually I made it all come together through correcting a lot of misapprehensions – a lot was learned before the Sheldonian performance, but a lot of it was learned afterwards. An experienced choral composer knows that children can’t be given huge sustained passages; they don’t have the energy and the stamina. At the Sheldonian there was some quite hard stuff that I didn’t realise because I’d done it on the synthesiser (which has endless stamina!), but during that first performance, the solo treble couldn’t come on for the second half – I think I’d used him up in the first half! These are things that people either learn because they are taught them immediately at the first lesson or you learn through the years, so it was good to go through the piece a lot of times, and we took out huge choral sections and gave them to the orchestra. If it had been a Beatles song I would have known how to do it. But this was a completely different ball game.”

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 9:53 am

Yeah, I got one too from Paulmccartney.com.

winston · Post by **winston** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 1:15 pm

It sounds interesting. I have not heard his earlier "classical" stuff (yes sometimes even I think I live in a cave) so my curiosity is piqued.

fran4001 · Post by **fran4001** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 2:25 pm

I'm sure I'll buy it, like all the other stuff, but I was really hoping the breakup would prompt him to kick some butt and really shred on some R & R...Something ala "Choba" or "Run Devil Run".
Oh well.

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 2:57 pm

I thought I was the only one. So much for thinking I'm special. Well at least my mother loves me.

winston · Post by **winston** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 3:18 pm

We are not alone. Others received it too. Even people not named Brian. Imagine that!

I thought we were getting special treatment too. LOL

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 4:04 pm

Brian M., I missed your 3000th post - congratulations! Obviously, you are more expressive/communicative (at a loss for words!) than I am ... or you have more spare time!

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 4:44 pm

WOW! I feel like a rookie compared to you guys!

winston · Post by **winston** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 5:02 pm

Thanks Doc,

That dubious milestone passed with as little fanfare as I could muster (in Cloughs Classics) this morning. I really do have to get a life. This place is addictive.