A Latin inscription above a statue of Jesus in a New York church gave Paul McCartney the title for his fourth classical album. The words Ecce Cor Meum — "Behold my heart" — caught his eye inside the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, and he later adapted them freely for an oratorio that took more than eight years to complete. Released on 25 September 2006 by EMI Classics, the work arrived two decades ago this year and remains the only McCartney classical recording never pressed to vinyl.
An Oxford commission
The commission came from Anthony Smith, president of Magdalen College, Oxford between 1998 and 2005, who invited McCartney to compose music for the college's new concert hall. That invitation placed McCartney in a tradition of composers writing for Magdalen, a lineage stretching back centuries. The initial spark was clear, but the path to completion would be anything but direct.
Linda McCartney's death interrupted the writing. The oratorio, partially inspired by her, was set aside as McCartney navigated the loss of his wife. When he returned to the score, the emotional weight had shifted. The piece became something more than a college commission — it carried the residue of private grief through a public, liturgical form.
The piece became something more than a college commission — it carried the residue of private grief through a public, liturgical form.
Four parts, two choirs
The finished oratorio unfolds in four parts, its text moving between Latin and English. McCartney scored it for orchestra, a boys' choir, and an adult chorus. Producer John Fraser assembled a formidable lineup: the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under conductor Gavin Greenaway, soprano Kate Royal, and the London Voices directed by Ben Parry.
Two boys' choirs appear on the recording — from Magdalen College, Oxford and King's College, Cambridge. Colm Carey played organ, Mark Law played the small trumpet. The engineering team included Arne Akselberg, with assistants Sam Okell, Robert Houston, and Andrew Dudman. Keith Smith coordinated technical support, while Simon Kiln handled mastering and editing at Abbey Road Studios in London.
McCartney as executive producer
McCartney himself served as executive producer, a role that kept him close to every decision. All tracks were published by MPL Communications Ltd. The recording sessions brought together a cross-section of English choral and orchestral excellence, yet the album remains an outlier in McCartney's catalogue for one specific reason: EMI Classics never issued it on vinyl.
The title took on a second life when McCartney received a personal coat of arms. He chose the motto "ECCE COR MEUM" — the same phrase from that New York church, now emblazoned beneath his crest. A fragment of sacred architecture had migrated into heraldry, then back into music. The circle between public symbol and private meaning closed.
By 2006, when Ecce Cor Meum finally appeared, McCartney had spent more than eight years on the project. The delay born from Linda's death, the Oxford commission, the Latin text, the combined choirs — all of it converged in a work that sits apart from his pop legacy. It is classical music in form, but the emotional architecture belongs unmistakably to its composer.
Twenty years on, the oratorio remains the only McCartney classical release without a vinyl pressing. No first edition, no repress, no audiophile reissue. The music exists solely in digital and CD formats, a strange absence for an artist whose catalogue has been reissued on wax repeatedly. Ecce Cor Meum stands as a gap in the record bins — a heart visible, but not held.