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Sir Paul McCartney revealed that he had been working on his new classical piece, which he said contained the “spirit” of his late wife, Linda, since before she died in 1998 and credited it with helping him through his grief.
Launching Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart), a choral work which combines English and Latin lyrics and will be performed for the first time at the Royal Albert Hall in London next month, he said he had been unable to work on it for a time after losing her to breast cancer.
The former Beatle wrote the piece after being invited by Anthony Smith, then president of Magdalen College, Oxford, to compose something for a new concert hall at the institution. “I started it when Linda was alive. Originally we went to Magdalen College together, so it has a lot of my feelings for her in it,” he said.
“When she died it stalled me. I took a year or so before I could get back into it. The interlude in the middle is a particularly sad melody and is what got me going again.
“Her spirit is very much in this. It would have been her birthday yesterday, so it’s very appropriate,” said Sir Paul, 64, whose most recent rock release, Chaos & Creation in the Back Yard, was hailed as a return to form.
Owen Gibson
