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.
Mononoke Hime
Anúna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Me ilumina tu fulgor
Como el arco que se tensa al disparar
Vibras alrededor
Ahora yaces junto a mi
Y se intensa la sensacion
Admire en el momento que te vi
Se que sientes hoy un gran dolor
El puñal de la ira y el rencor
Un nuevo sol muy pronto veras
Mononoke no sufras mas
Mononoke no sufras mas...
The lyrics of Anúna's Mononoke Hime are about admiring someone's beauty and being in awe of their presence. The singer describes how they are fascinated and illuminated by the person's glow, comparing them to a bow being pulled back before shooting an arrow. The person's energy vibrates around them, intensifying the singer's sensation. The singer then reveals that the person is lying beside them, and they admired their beauty the moment they saw them. However, the person is also suffering from great pain, caused by the dagger of anger and resentment. The singer reassures them that a new sun will soon rise, bringing hope and healing.
The lyrics capture the essence of the titular character in the Japanese animated film, Princess Mononoke, who struggles with her dual identity as a human and a wolf goddess. The song also touches upon the theme of beauty and pain, often intertwined in the human experience.
Line by Line Meaning
Me fascina tu presencia
Your presence is enchanting to me
Me ilumina tu fulgor
Your radiance illuminates me
Como el arco que se tensa al disparar
Like a bow being pulled back before releasing an arrow
Vibras alrededor
Your energy vibrates around me
Ahora yaces junto a mi
Now you lie beside me
Y se intensa la sensacion
And the sensation intensifies
Admire en el momento que te vi
I admired your beauty when I first saw you
Tu belleza de corazon
Your beauty of the heart
Se que sientes hoy un gran dolor
I know you feel great pain today
El puñal de la ira y el rencor
The knife of anger and resentment
Un nuevo sol muy pronto veras
You will soon see a new sun
Mononoke no sufras mas
Mononoke, don't suffer anymore
Mononoke no sufras mas
Mononoke, don't suffer anymore
Writer(s): JOE HISAISHI
Contributed by Isabelle V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@tomo-3650
Thank you for uploading such a beautiful video！
美しきharmony、美しきsound、そして美しき風景。
いつも心を癒されております。
この度の日本語の歌も、さすがAnunaと、その素晴らしさに感動させられました。
郷愁を掻き立てるような、美しき幻想世界を完璧に作り上げていると、私は感じました。
ありがとうございます。
これからの更なるご活躍とご発展を、心から願っております。
@puellamagica3359
***** here are a few songs i can think of right now that might actually fit your style, or are at least possible candidates for being adapted to your style:
1. sis puella magica! by kajiura yuki
2. credens justitiam by kajiura yuki
3. jupiter by ayaka hirahara
4. passion/sanctuary by utada hikaru
5. senbonzakura by hatsune miku (look into the wagakki band cover as well)
6. tell me what the rain knows by sakamoto maaya
7. one summer's day (from "spirited away") by joe hisaishi - the version featuring ayaka hirahara
8. zankoku na tenshi no these (a cruel angel's thesis) by takahashi yoko - this is definitely a pop song, but i feel like you could pretty easily rework it into something haunting and gothic
9. teru no uta (therru's song) by aoi teshima
10. arrietty's song and the neglected garden from "the secret world of arrietty". honestly literally ANYTHING from that soundtrack would work so well. it was quite popular in japan and i think the soundtrack, written and performed by young french harpist and singer cecile corbel, is just lovely.
note that the kajiura yuki songs do not have lyrics in japanese - i think there's a pop remix of credens justitiam in one of the madoka movies that has rewritten japanese lyrics, but the original, like many of kajiura's songs, is written in a made-up language. it's a nonsense mixture of english, french, and latin, or something to that effect. you could probably write your own lyrics for them in gaelic if you wanted to.
i hope that's helpful! i can't think of many more as it's quite late here in america. these are all modern anime songs - i don't know too many enka songs offhand, but if you go digging around you might find some you like.
@jouguu
日本の曲を取り上げてもらえて嬉しいです。数年前、日本が危機的状況の中来日、特に福島にまで出向いてくれたことは忘れられません。その時に、「この時期に日本にこれたことは光栄です。」と行ってくれたことはいつまでも忘れません。ありがとう。
@anunachoir
+Taurus トーラス
名誉は我々でした。ありがとう。
@laraq.5484
She used to be my singing teacher ❤️ Beautiful voice
@arigatonyan
美しい…
日本の歌を外国のグループがこんなに綺麗に歌ってくれるのは本当に嬉しいことです…😭
@anunachoir
Thank you! Our pleasure.
@user-zd9ke3tq7k
凄く透き通った綺麗な声ですね💞
日本語の発音もとっても綺麗でびっくりしました！
皆さんこれからも頑張ってください。応援しています！！！
@torichan3349
のど自慢ザ・ワールドから来ました。美しい歌声ですね☺️
@mona-sc9bn
Tori Chang 私もです。感動して鳥肌が止まりませんでした。
@torichan3349
strawberry milk ですよね！！！！ヒーリングミュージックとして寝てる時に流したいです笑
@ThompsonInternation
how did I know that you guys would be the one group that could tackle this with such clean precision