In 1987, Dublin composer Michael McGlynn founded ANÚNA. The ensemble's name… Read Full Bio ↴In 1987, Dublin composer Michael McGlynn founded ANÚNA. The ensemble's name, originally An Uaithne, derives from the collective term for the three ancient types of Irish music Suantraí (lullaby), Geantraí (happy song) and Goltraí (lament).
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.
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.
Geantraí
Anúna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas go heasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
I seacain a chroí na pleasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas go heasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
I seacain a chroí na pleasc í
Déanfaidh sí damhsa is damhsa
Déanfaidh sí damhsa le plésiúr
Déanfaidh sí damhsa is damhsa
Mé féin is í féin le chéile
Déanfaidh sí damhsa is damhsa
Déanfaidh sí damhsa le plésiúr
Déanfaidh sí damhsa is damhsa
Mé féin is í féin le chéile
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas an páiste
Caithfimid suas is suas
Is tiocfaidh sí anuas amárach
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas an páiste
Caithfimid suas is suas
Is tiocfaidh sí anuas amárach
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas go heasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
I seacain a chroí na pleasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas an páiste
Caithfimid suas is suas
I seacain a chroí na pleasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas go heasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
I seacain a chroí na pleasc í
Caithfimid suas go heasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
I seacain a chroí na pleasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas go heasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
I seacain a chroí na pleasc í
Déanfaidh sí damhsa is damhsa
Déanfaidh sí damhsa le plésiúr
Déanfaidh sí damhsa is damhsa
Mé féin is í féin le chéile
Déanfaidh sí damhsa is damhsa
Déanfaidh sí damhsa le plésiúr
Déanfaidh sí damhsa is damhsa
Mé féin is í féin le chéile
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas an páiste
Caithfimid suas is suas
Is tiocfaidh sí anuas amárach
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas an páiste
Caithfimid suas is suas
Is tiocfaidh sí anuas amárach
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas go heasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
I seacain a chroí na pleasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas an páiste
Caithfimid suas is suas
I seacain a chroí na pleasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
Caithfimid suas go heasc í
Caithfimid suas is suas
I seacain a chroí na pleasc í
The lyrics of Anúna's song Geantraí are in Irish and translate to "We have to jump up and up, we have to jump up quickly, we have to jump up and up, until our hearts burst. She will dance and dance, she will dance with pleasure, she will dance and dance, she and I together. We have to jump up and up, we have to raise the child, we have to jump up and up and she will come down tomorrow. We have to jump up and up until our hearts burst, we have to raise the child, we have to jump up and up until our hearts burst."
The song has a joyful and celebratory tone, and the lyrics seem to be encouraging people to let go of their inhibitions and dance freely. There is also a sense of urgency in the repeated refrain of "we have to jump up and up" and "until our hearts burst," suggesting that life is fleeting and we should make the most of it while we can. The verse about raising the child could be interpreted as a metaphor for nurturing and cherishing the things in life that are important to us.
Line by Line Meaning
Caithfimid suas is suas
We must lift up and up
Caithfimid suas go heasc í
We must lift up until it bursts
I seacain a chroí na pleasc í
In the bursting of its heart
Déanfaidh sí damhsa is damhsa
She will dance and dance
Déanfaidh sí damhsa le plésiúr
She will dance with pleasure
Mé féin is í féin le chéile
Me and herself together
Caithfimid suas an páiste
We must lift up the child
Is tiocfaidh sí anuas amárach
And she will come down tomorrow
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave
Written by: MICHAEL MCGLYNN, MICHAEL PHILIP MCGLYNN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Maria Gabrielle Aleksinko
Several years ago, I sang this piece with the Women's Chorus of Florida Atlantic University. Mr. McGlynn was kind enough to visit one rehearsal for input and coaching. I had just dumped my boyfriend that morning after finding out some distressing information, and I was... not in good spirits. But I dragged myself to rehearsal anyway, in ratty jeans and an oversized hoodie, hair in a half-baked bun and no makeup, having completely forgotten that was the day my director had informed us that the composer was visiting. Before he let us sing a note, Mr. McGlynn looked me in the eye and in front of everyone he said kindly, "Young lady, is that any way to sing? How can you get a good sound like that? Let's stand up straight and get those hands out of those pockets. Now you can get a good breath." I immediately complied, realizing too late what a sorry sight I must have been. But the more I stood up straight and contributed to a beautiful sound with my group, the less I felt bad for myself. And honestly by the time I left rehearsal I was ready to move on and just try to be my own best self. I thought, yeah that was a bit embarrassing, but I needed that wake-up call. No matter what's happening in your life, or who hurt you, stand up straight and do your best.
Anyway I just remembered all that when I saw this upload and listened to this song again. Thank you for that much-needed lesson, and for all the gorgeous music I've enjoyed since college.
ANÚNA-SYSTIR-M'ANAM
What a lovely story - thank you Gabi. Michael can be a bit blunt sometimes.
Beth Boyle
What a great story.
Voran
Relationships: not even once
Padraig o'neill
Geantrai has always been one of my favourite ANUNA songs
Yvette Ybarra
This really makes me miss choir. We all really loved Anuna and would use their music for our classes. I still come back to these songs to sing and feel better and this song was a big one for us. We pretty much used their music for our Christmas show and it was my favorite show, by far.
ANÚNA-SYSTIR-M'ANAM
Thank you. Sorry for the late reply. Means a lot to get a message like this and sorry we missed it.
Cristian L. Pulcini
I love the girl appearing at 0:17. During the whole song she seems so relaxed, happy (as she's always smiling), seems like she's just talking. I wonder if she is Dominique Cunningham but I'm not sure. However, love her expressions and the chilled out way she sings. Heavenly.
Tenor4Life95
your music is always magical and surreal :D keep up the good work!
Valerie Selau
This is absolutely unbelievable.