Amore solum opus est

George Martin's death was announced yesterday. I won't do an obit - there's one here. And I won't labour his contribution to The Beatles' sound, because it was immeasurable - he made that sound every bit as much as those four lads from Liverpool.

I will just talk a little bit about an interview George gave to rock journalist Mark Ellen back in 2007, that was reprinted in full on The Times website yesterday (behind this paywall).

After lamenting signing away royalties ("about half a penny per title but, with them, that would have been an enormous amount”), George went on to talk about personal wealth, money in general, and how attitudes to money reflect changes in society. Here's what he said, for the benefit of non-Times subscribers (like me):

"But I've got all the money I could want. People think I'm a multimillionaire and I'm not."

"I tend to look at people and think, 'Are you a good human being?' That's what impresses me most rather than what they've achieved."

"We're a bit short on people like that at the moment – people who do good things and spread love for each other."

"We get an awful lot of people who are selfish. I think Margaret Thatcher started it, the greed thing, people just wanting more and more. And we've lost our morals to some extent. And the church has weakened. People don't believe in anything apart from money and success."

"I know it's easy for me to say as I've had some success, but I really believe family and love are more important than anything. Amore Solum Opus Est indeed!"

Indeed.