The majority of singers come from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland with many of its members also drawn from all over the world. Their repertoire is written or arranged for the group by McGlynn, and includes reconstructions of Early and Medieval music from Ireland and beyond presented in a candle-lit, costumed ambiance that allows the group to connect with a very wide variety of audience despite the eclectic nature of the music they sing.
Anúna perform between twelve and fourteen singers, unconducted, in any performance. They are equally at home in an amplified theatrical setting or an unamplified concert hall.
Anúna created the vocal ambiance of Riverdance (1994-1996), achieved a Top 10 placing on the U.K. Singles Charts while remaining at Number 1 on the Irish singles charts for eighteen weeks. In 2012 they appeared as the "Voices of Hell" on the video game Diablo 3 [Blizzard] gaining a Game Audio Network Guild nomination for the Best Original Choral Performance in February 2013. In February 2018 the group won the Outstanding Ensemble category of the Annual Game Music Awards for their contributions to the soundtrack of the hugely successful video game Xenoblade Chronicles II. In February 2017 the group participated in an extraordinary collaboration with Noh Theatre entitled "Takahime", a Japanese adaptation of W.B. Yeats' play "At the Hawk's Well". The performance was directed by Gensho Umewaka (Japanese National Treasure) and Michael McGlynn, who also composed an original score.
While curating the Meltdown Festival at London's South Bank, Elvis Costello invited Anúna to perform as featured guests and in 2011 they featured on DVD and CD with the pioneering Australian children's entertainers The Wiggles. A number of Anúna singers have gone on to carve very successful careers as solo artists including singer-songwriter Hozier [2007 - 2012] and six of the lead soloists in the phenomenally successful Celtic Woman including Lynn Hilary and Éabha McMahon.
In complete contrast, as a classical choral ensemble Anúna have appeared at the World Sacred Music Festival in Morocco and at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, London. They have sung at many major classical venues including the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, De Doelen Rotterdam, Hyogo Performing Arts Center and Orchard Hall in Tokyo, New York Town Hall and Minneapolis Symphony Hall.
They have collaborated with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland on two major concerts of McGlynn's compositions at Dublin's National Concert Hall (2009 & 2010).
Anúna have an active and highly successful Education & Outreach programme that has been responsible for workshops across China, Japan, Spain, Belgium, Israel, Sweden, Canada, Poland, the UK and The Netherlands. In 2012 they presented at the Shanghai Conservatory. In 2015 the group presented an interest Session as part of the American Choral Directors Association National Conference at Salt Lake, Utah, USA. In 2019 their sixth highly successful annual ANÚNA International Summer School in Dublin, which attracts professional and amateur choral musicians from all over the world, will take place in Dublin preceded by the first ANÚNA Winter School in February in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Anúna have released eighteen albums since 1991 and have been featured artists on three Grammy Award-winning albums. Invocation (1994) won a National Entertainment Award for Classical music, while Deep Dead Blue (1996) was nominated for a Classical Brit Award. Celtic Origins (2007), also an award-winning PBS show and DVD, became the number one selling CD on the US World Music Charts that August while September 2011 saw their album Christmas Memories reaching the Hot 100 of the Billboard Album Chart. In 2008 the choir released Invocations of Ireland, McGlynn's self-made film, an evocative depiction of the Irish landscape and its relationship to his music. This has been broadcast extensively in Australia/New Zealand, with the DVD being released on Australia's DV1 and Columbia Music Entertainment in Japan.
They have been signed to some of the world's major record labels including Decca, Universal Classics, Polygram, E1 and Philips. Michael McGlynn's sheet music is available from www.michaelmcglynn.com.
Fionnghuala
Anúna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'S thuirt an gobha falbhaidh mi
'S thuirt an gobha leis an othail
A bh' air an dòrus an t-sàbhail
Gu rachadh e a shuirghe
Sèist: Chorus
'Si eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Am bothan a bh' aig Fionnghuala
'Si eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Am bothan a bh' aig Fionnghuala
Bheirinn fead air fulmairean
Bheirinn fead air falmairean
Liuthannan beaga na mara
Bheireamaid greis air an tarrainn
Na maireadh na duirgh dhuinn
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
Bheireamaid greis air an tarrainn
Na maireadh na duirgh dhuinn
Bheirinn fead air fulmairean
Bheirinn fead air falmairean
Liuthannan beaga na mara
Bheireamaid greis air an tarrainn
Na maireadh na duirgh dhuinn
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
Bheireamaid greis air an tarrainn
Na maireadh na duirgh dhuinn
Thuirt an gobha fuirighidh mi
'S thuirt an gobha falbhaidh mi
'S thuirt an gobha leis an othail
A bh' air an dòrus an t-sàbhail
Gu rachadh e a shuirghe
The lyrics of the traditional Scottish song Fionnghuala, sung by the Irish choral group Anuna, tell the story of a blacksmith who is reluctant to go on a journey but ultimately agrees to go. The blacksmith is asked to forge a chain, and when asked if he will stay or go, he initially says he will stay, but eventually agrees to go. The chorus repeats the phrase "Eilean nam bothan" which means "Island of the Bothies", a bothy being a type of shelter used by Scottish shepherds and farmers. The lyrics also mention "Liuthannan beaga na mara," which translates to "the little beasts of the sea," referring to the seals that live in the surrounding waters.
The song is a stirring tribute to the rugged landscape and the hardiness of the people who inhabit it. The blacksmith's reluctance to leave his home shows a connection to his land, but his willingness to go and complete his task shows a sense of duty and responsibility. The repetition of the chorus emphasizes the importance of the bothy, a place of refuge and community in a harsh environment.
Overall, Fionnghuala is a haunting and beautiful song that celebrates the connection between the people, the land, and the sea.
Line by Line Meaning
Thuirt an gobha fuirighidh mi
The blacksmith said wait for me
'S thuirt an gobha falbhaidh mi
And the blacksmith said leave me
'S thuirt an gobha leis an othail
And the blacksmith said to the otter
A bh' air an dòrus an t-sàbhail
That was on the door of the barn
Gu rachadh e a shuirghe
That he would go fishing
Chorus
Chorus
'Si eilean nam bothan nam bothan
It's the island of the bothies, of the bothies
Eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Island of the bothies, of the bothies
Eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Island of the bothies, of the bothies
Am bothan a bh' aig Fionnghuala
The bothy that belonged to Fionnghuala
'Si eilean nam bothan nam bothan
It's the island of the bothies, of the bothies
Eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Island of the bothies, of the bothies
Eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Island of the bothies, of the bothies
Am bothan a bh' aig Fionnghuala
The bothy that belonged to Fionnghuala
Bheirinn fead air fulmairean
I would give nets to fishermen
Bheirinn fead air falmairean
I would give nets to fishermen
Liuthannan beaga na mara
Little seaweeds of the sea
Bheireamaid greis air an tarrainn
We would gather shellfish
Na maireadh na duirgh dhuinn
The black ones wouldn't live for us
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
This stanza didn't say
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
This stanza didn't say
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
This stanza didn't say
Bheireamaid greis air an tarrainn
We would gather shellfish
Na maireadh na duirgh dhuinn
The black ones wouldn't live for us
Bheirinn fead air fulmairean
I would give nets to fishermen
Bheirinn fead air falmairean
I would give nets to fishermen
Liuthannan beaga na mara
Little seaweeds of the sea
Bheireamaid greis air an tarrainn
We would gather shellfish
Na maireadh na duirgh dhuinn
The black ones wouldn't live for us
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
This stanza didn't say
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
This stanza didn't say
Cha d'thuirt an dadan a' seo
This stanza didn't say
Bheireamaid greis air an tarrainn
We would gather shellfish
Na maireadh na duirgh dhuinn
The black ones wouldn't live for us
Thuirt an gobha fuirighidh mi
The blacksmith said wait for me
'S thuirt an gobha falbhaidh mi
And the blacksmith said leave me
'S thuirt an gobha leis an othail
And the blacksmith said to the otter
A bh' air an dòrus an t-sàbhail
That was on the door of the barn
Gu rachadh e a shuirghe
That he would go fishing
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: MICHAEL PHILIP MCGLYNN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@CatoMeador
It's 'mouth music'...
The blacksmith said, "I'll wait"
The blacksmith said, "I'll go"
The blacksmith said, in his confusion
Standing at the door of the barn
That he was going to go courting
Chorus:
Island of bothies, of bothies
Island of bothies, of bothies
Island of bothies, of bothies
Fingal's bothies
Island of bothies, of bothies
Island of bothies, of bothies
Island of bothies, of bothies
Fingal's bothies
I'd knock spots off the birds
I'd knock spots off the hakes
Little lythes of the sea
We would take a while hauling them in
If our hand lines last
Chorus
We got nothing here
We got nothing here
We got nothing here
We would take a while hauling them in
If our hand lines last
Chorus
I'd knock spots off the birds
I'd knock spots off the hakes
Little lythes of the sea
We would take a while hauling them in
If our hand lines last
Chorus
We got nothing here
We got nothing here
We got nothing here
We would take a while hauling them in
If our hand lines last
Chorus
The blacksmith said, "I'll wait"
The blacksmith said, "I'll go"
The blacksmith said, in his confusion
Standing at the door of the barn
That he was going to go courting
Chorus
@tiffanypetersen789
If you're watching this in 2023, you're a legend!
@audrinaparshall3294
I'll give you one better, I'm watching in 2024!
@tiffanypetersen789
@@audrinaparshall3294
😄
@mikloslegrady965
Thank you Michael McGlynn. I've listened to this 64 times in a row.
@markchristopher4165
One of the truly great moments in vocal music
@epicpandareviews
That smirk at 0:56 that just screams, "Yes! I didn't screw it up."
@kaydenoconnell3570
69th like hell yeah
@chlozentime3829
XD
@SilentSympathy
Anyone else love how he smiles as he sings? <3 That smile's contagious.
@stevenwood2436
Yes me