Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart)
The latest release by former Beatle Paul McCartney was his fourth classical composition and second oratorio (following the Liverpool Oratorio).
Credits
Composer: Paul McCartney
Conductor: Gavin Greenaway
Performers: David Theodore (oboe), Colm Carey (organ), Mark Law (piccolo trumpet), Kate Royal (soprano)
Orchestra: Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Choirs: Boys of Magdalen College Choir (Oxford), Boys of Kings College Choir (Cambridge)
In the making
Sir Paul McCartney spent 9 years writing Ecce Cor Meum (Behold, My Heart), an oratorio commissioned by Magdalen College, Oxford to celebrate the college's new music hall. He began in 1997, but when his wife Linda died of breast cancer in 1998, McCartney ceased writing for a year. He notes that his grief can be heard in the lament section of Ecce Cor Meum.
The structure of the oratorio
The oratorio is in 4 movements, with the lament-filled interlude forming the cornerstone in the middle. The lyrics are primarily in English, with a few Latin phrases thrown in. The oratorio is scored for orchestra and choir, including a children's chorus. Sections of the oratorio are meant to resemble sacred English choral music, but the stylistics bleed across several centuries of music making.
1. Spiritus (12:00): The first movement begins fitfully, with a prayer for guidance in that most basic human condition, love. But the hushed minor chords soon swell into triumphant victory, backed by militaristic percussion and trumpets. All you need is love.
2. Gratia (10:50): A poignant string theme opens the second movement. McCartney's penchant for spun-out melodies suddenly shines as a brilliant bel canto solo, despite McCartney's sometimes kindergartenish rhyming schemes.
3. Interlude-Lament (3:56): An oboe solo, supported by choral vocalese, connects the second and third movements.
4. Musica (15:14): In his notes for the album, Peter Quantrill describes this movement as the passage "from sorrow to light." The basses anchor the upper voices with the declarative theme set to the text "here in the light." The piccolo trumpet (reminiscent of Penny Lane) offers a syncopated counter-theme.
5. Ecce Cor Meum (14:50): The text in this final movement ("There in the future we may be apart; here in my music I show you my heart") takes a more personal turn, although universal Love still provides direction for inward introspective. The euphoric confidence in the capacities of Love resembles Beethoven-esque exaltations of Joy. The majestic organ solo and triumphant chorus celebrate Love's victory.
Recognition
On May 3, 2007, Ecce Cor Meum won Album of the Year in the Classical BRIT Awards.
Fans of McCartney and classical music listeners curious to hear what the former Beatle can do when he turns his hand to choral work will find this CD worth the listen.
