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Synopsis
In eight movements, for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Bass and Boy Treble Soloists, Boys' Choir, SATB Chorus and Orchestra piano/vocal score.
Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio was born out of chance and coincidence. Since the sixties, Paul McCartney has flirted with "classical music" - primarily in the writing of Yesterday and Eleanor Rigby - but as yet had not undertaken a full-scale work in the medium. In 1988 he happened upon an article about composer/conductor Carl Davis, and was intrigued by Davis' remark that "if it moves, I'll score it." The two arranged a meeting, and shortly afterward were officially commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra to compose a work for the culmination of its 150th anniversary celebrations.
Over two years in the making, Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio deals in part with the story of McCartney's life in Liverpool; his birth in the city during wartime, his schooldays, his parents and meeting his wife, Linda. The Oratorio does not pursue the birth of The Beatles and all that followed because as McCartney says - "everyone knows that story."
It was premiered by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir at Liverpool Cathedral on June 28, 1991, conducted by Carl Davis and featuring Dame Kiri Te Kanawa as soprano soloist. The work has also been broadcast in the U.S. on public television.