Q&A; WITH PAUL McCARTNEY : An Oratorio of ‘Hope’

These are good times again professionally for Paul McCartney, who is calling from a Sussex, England, recording studio to talk about the West Coast premiere of his “Liverpool Oratorio” Saturday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

One reason for his good spirits is that McCartney, 50, is putting the final touches on an album that will be released early next year. It’s the studio follow-up to 1989’s “Flowers in the Dust,” his most acclaimed work in a decade, and it comes after a triumphant world tour that demonstrated for a new generation of rock fans that McCartney--and not just the late John Lennon--was responsible for much of the Beatles’ most stirring music.

McCartney--who is married with four children--was so delighted by the last tour that he plans to tour again in support of the new album.

The oratorio, commissioned three years ago by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic to celebrate its 150th anniversary, premiered to mixed reviews last year in the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, where McCartney once failed a choir audition.

It has since been performed in more than a dozen cities, including New York and Tokyo.

McCartney wrote the oratorio with Carl Davis, associate conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

The former Beatle was on hand for the 1991 premiere, but hasn’t attended other performances and isn’t expected to be present Saturday when William Hall conducts the Master Chorale of Orange County and the Boys of the Costa Mesa Children’s Choir.

Question: Why weren’t you intimidated when approached by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic?

Answer: I don’t know. The first time I even thought about that was about halfway through the writing. I was in a pub, just killing some time before going to see Carl, who lived around the corner. I was having a drink with this Irish actor and he said, “Boy, you must be intimidated by this.” And I remember, I thought, “No, not really.”

To me, it was more a feeling of being afforded this incredible luxury . . . the idea that people would just play and sing what I asked them to. That was so inviting for me because normally I tend to play and sing what I write. So, the idea of having a whole orchestra do it was like a gift or something.

Q: But didn’t you worry what the critics would say? Any pop or rock star stepping into the classical area is a big target, especially a former Beatle.

A: It’s hard to explain, but I just didn’t think about it, even the night of the first performance in Liverpool. In some sort of innocent/ignorant way, I’d forgotten I would be putting it out there for every Cambridge matriculation exam on the planet. Of course, I was foolish not to expect the critics to go after it--but I suppose it was just a safety valve in me, something that just says don’t worry about it.

Q: How did you get involved with Carl Davis?

A: The orchestra (contacted me) through Carl. I didn’t really know him, but I had seen a couple of things in newspapers that were quite complimentary. I thought he would be good to work with because he was supposed to be the consummate writer-downer, and that’s what I need more than anything. . . . someone who can write music.

Q: The music is credited to you both. Was it 50-50?

A: No, it’s more 70-30 really with me leading the dance. It started out where I was going to write it all, but it became more of a collaborative effort as we got rolling on it. We used to work in three-hour sessions. It’s funny because we mapped out chapters, and I remember Carl started a section titled “War” in a lyrical, sort of McCartney-ish way, and I’d go, “No, no, it has to be much harder. This is about a war.”

Q: What about the text?

A: When it felt like it was time for a bit of words, I either had a couple of ideas ahead of time or I’d just sort of ad-lib them with the idea that we’d go back and fix them. I think one of the criticisms was that the words could have been slaved over a bit more, which is certainly true. But what I found in the end was that if the piece was supposed to really be addressing Liverpool, simple people, war, life, birth, death, children . . . all that sort of stuff, I wanted to keep it all fairly common, so there isn’t really anything too obscure in there or really that clever. I was thinking of it as almost conversational, which I think is a bit of a new slant on oratorios, which can be big pompous affairs.

Q: What do you see as the dominant message?

A: Hope . . . hope for the future. . . . the same old thing about giving peace a chance.

Q: How emotional was it for you to go back to Liverpool for the premiere?

A: I had memories of childhood . . . memories of failing the chorus audition. My dad had sent me to try and get a scholarship because free books came with it. But I didn’t manage to do it. So, it was kind of strange to see all these kids in the chorus the night of the premiere--because they had gotten the gig.

Q: How different was the feeling when you played Liverpool on the last world tour?

A: That show was equally as emotional, especially when we did the tribute to John . . . “Give Peace a Chance” and “Strawberry Fields” and “Help!” But it reminded me of another period in my life . . . the teen-age days and growing up and dreaming about being in a band and getting people to listen to our music.

Q: How did you feel in the ‘60s when classical people, including conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein, praised the Beatles?

A: It was very flattering. The thing that struck me the most from those days was when people would say Mozart was like a pop star. We didn’t know enough history . . . the idea that a lot of those guys were sort of writing pop songs for their time.

Q: Wasn’t “Yesterday” the first Beatles song to use strings? How did that come about?

A: The funny thing is I was against the idea of having strings on “Yesterday.” I brought the song in and just played it with an acoustic guitar. We all talked about it and decided we couldn’t put drums on it or more guitar or bass, so the others (in the Beatles) were just going to lay out. Once we recorded it, however, (producer) George Martin said he had an idea for a string quartet. My reaction was, “Oh, no, George, that’s not a good idea.” I thought it would be too sweet or too soft. I had this image of a little baroque quartet. But he said, “Let me try it. If you don’t like it, we’ll wipe it (from the tape).” So, I said, fair enough. And it was great.

Q: Do you see yourself attempting more classical works?

A: Actually, I’ve found little things from the oratorio experience leaking onto the new album . . . just in tiny little ways. But I have also just been doing a series of piano pieces with Carl. It is interesting to go from the grandeur of a full-blown classical thing to the idea of one little pianist sitting there.

Q: Why are you going on tour again so quickly? After all, it was 13 years between tours before the last one.

A: We had a great time and we had a real good band, which is a central point.

Q: Do you feel it helped you regain your place in the Beatles legacy? Do you think your contribution was under-appreciated for a while?

A: That’s a touchy one. . . . I understood what happened (in the ‘80s) because when someone like John dies, you can’t help but lionize him. I missed him, too. But yes, it is nice when people look at the overall picture and kind of will say, yes, John was great, but this other geezer is not so bad either.