Post by yerblues1968 on Apr 18, 2008 20:16:34 GMT -5
Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart) DVD
Live Performance and Documentary DVD
Release: February 4, 2008
Running Time: 67 minutes
by Paul McCartney
‘It’s about truth, and love, and honesty and kindness, and just stuff that I thought was important in life.’ - Paul McCartney
Ecce Cor Meum (Latin for Behold My Heart) is the fourth classical album by Paul McCartney. The album was released on September 25, 2006 by EMI Classics. An oratorio in four movements, it is produced and orchestrated by John Fraser, written in Latin and English, and scored for orchestra and Boys and Adult choir.
Ecce Cor Meum was performed by Kate Royal (soprano); Academy of St Martin In The Fields Orchestra; London Voices; Boys Of Magdalen College Choir, Oxford and Boys of King’s College Choir, Cambridge. They were conducted by Gavin Greenaway. This is the same cast that appears on the studio recording.
The title was inspired by the inscription McCartney noticed above a statue of Christ in St. Ignatius Church, New York City. The reference in the church context is to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, although McCartney freely adapted the text for use in his composition.
The DVD also follows the story of Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart). It includes exclusive interviews with Paul and behind the scenes footage of the recording of the album at Abbey Road and the preparation in the run up to The Albert Hall performance. The album was 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’.
In November 2001, the first version of Ecce Cor Meum was given its 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.”
Its American premiere was November 14, 2006 at a sold-out Carnegie Hall in New York City. Scored for choir and orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke's under Gavin Greenaway joined the Concert Chorale of New York and the American Boychoir, with soprano Kate Royal and Andrew Staples as soloists. The concert was simulcast over WNYC-FM, New York Public Radio and webcast over wnyc.org
The Canadian premiere took place on October 27, 2007 at Metropolitan United Church in London, Ontario. Conducted by Toronto conductor Robert Cooper, it was performed by the combined forces of the Orpheus Choir of Toronto, Chorus Niagara, London Pro Musica, the Amabile Treble Choir and Orchestra London.
On May 3, 2007 at the Royal Albert Hall, Paul McCartney was presented with the Best Album Award at the Classical BRITs for his fourth classical album Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart), an album partly inspired by his late wife Linda. The award was voted for by readers of Classic FM magazine and listeners of Classic FM. Paul’s album had tough competition alongside favorites such as Katherine Jenkins, Alfie Boe and Sting.
Ecce Cor Meum had been more than eight years in the making and its origins follow in the historic tradition of composers commissioned to write music for the world-renowned Magdalen College in Oxford. Paul was 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. The album was a big hit in the classical world, reaching #2 in the Top Classical Albums charts from the U.S.
Track listing:
All pieces by Paul McCartney.
1. Spiritus – 12:00
2. Gratia – 10:50
3. Interlude (Lament) – 3:56
4. Musica – 15:14
5. Ecce Cor Meum – 14:50
n September 2006 Paul McCartney released his fourth full-length classical album, Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart). On Friday November 3rd Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart) was given its world premiere performance to a sold out audience at The Royal Albert Hall, London. In May of this year Paul was presented with the award for Best Album at the UK Classical Brit Awards. The special world premiere Royal Albert Hall performance is to be made available for the first time ever on DVD, along with a documentary tracking the journey and making of this album.
Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart) was performed by Kate Royal (soprano); Academy of St Martin In The Fields Orchestra; London Voices; Boys Of Magdalen College Choir, Oxford and Boys of King's College Choir, Cambridge. They were conducted by Gavin Greenaway. This is the same cast that appears on the studio recording.
The DVD also follows the story of Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart). It includes exclusive interviews with Paul and behind the scenes footage of the recording of the album at Abbey Road and the preparation in the run up to The Albert Hall performance.
Ecce Cor Meum DVD promotional video from the PAULMCCARTNEY channel on YouTube posted on April 15, 2008. (3.31 minutes)
youtube.com/watch?v=XxLEfufW0r4
Paul McCartney Ecce Cor Meum DVD - Part 1 of 2, Long Version (9.56 minutes)
youtube.com/watch?v=_cgbJHMVAsA
Paul McCartney Ecce Cor Meum DVD - Part 2 of 2 Long Version (1.17 minutes)
youtube.com/watch?v=Z3VZ4w_H29Y
Extract of "Gratia" sung by Kate Royal at the Royal Albert Hall, London (1.31 minutes)
youtube.com/watch?v=CpOFho-zUHA
Paul McCartney Ecce Cor Meum speech at Royal Albert Hall, London