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.
Pater Noster
Anúna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sanctificétur nomen tuum
Advéniat regnum tuum
Fiat volúntas tua
Sicut in cælo et in terra
Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie
Et dimítte nobis débita nostra
Sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris
Sed libera nos a malo
Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem
Sed libera nos a malo
Amen, amen
The Latin lyrics to Anuna's song Pater Noster are a traditional Catholic prayer known in English as The Lord's Prayer or Our Father. The prayer is addressed to God the Father and seeks his blessings and guidance in our daily lives. The opening lines "Pater Noster" translates to "Our Father" and sets the tone for the prayer.
The first line "qui es in cælis" means "who art in heaven" and reminds us that God is omnipresent and all-powerful. The following lines express our desire to honor and sanctify God's name and to seek his will on earth as it is in heaven. We ask for provision of our daily bread and forgiveness for our debts as we extend the same to those who owe us. Finally, we ask for God's protection from evil and temptation and seek liberation from its grasp in our lives.
Anuna's rendition of the Pater Noster prayer is a stunningly beautiful and moving piece of music. The use of choral voices and harmonies adds a sense of awe and reverence to the prayer, making it an almost spiritual experience for the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
Pater noster, qui es in cælis
Our father, who resides in heaven
Sanctificétur nomen tuum
May your name be holy and revered
Advéniat regnum tuum
May your kingdom come into existence
Fiat volúntas tua
May your will be done
Sicut in cælo et in terra
As it is in heaven and on earth
Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie
Give us this day our daily bread
Et dimítte nobis débita nostra
And forgive us our debts
Sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris
As we forgive our debtors
Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem
And lead us not into temptation
Sed libera nos a malo
But deliver us from evil
Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem
And lead us not into temptation
Sed libera nos a malo
But deliver us from evil
Amen, amen
So be it, Amen
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: MICHAEL MCGLYNN, MICHAEL PHILIP MCGLYNN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind