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.
War is Over
Anúna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I shall take my lute a-down to it
And sing again songs of the whispering things
Of the whispering things
And those I love, and those I love
Shall know them by their strain
Those I love
When the war is over
Their airs shall be, their airs shall be
The blackbird's twilight song
But it is lonely now, lonely now
In winter, in winter long
And, God, to hear the blackbird
The blackbird sing once more
When the war is over, war is over
The lyrics of Anuna's song War Is Over revolve around the aftermath of war and the joy that comes with its cessation. The singer, in the first few lines of the song, talks about his/her intention to take his/her lute down to the war-torn area and sing songs about whispering things and the people he/she loves. The lute, depicted in the song, symbolizes the healing power of music, which can help people to reconnect with their lost loved ones and move on from the devastating impact of war.
The singer talks about how, after the war is over, he/she will listen to the blackbird's song, which is associated with April rainbows. The blackbird's song signifies the return of the spring season, and its arrival after a long winter signifies a new beginning and hope after suffering. The song draws on the common experience of people who long to return to the simple things in life after a harrowing experience like war, such as listening to their favorite bird's song, spending time with loved ones, and enjoying the beauty of nature.
Overall, the song War Is Over is a poignant commentary on the destructive nature of war and the hope that comes with its cessation. It describes how people can learn to cope with the trauma of war using music as a healing tool, and how the end of a war can bring a renewed sense of hope and joy to people's lives.
Line by Line Meaning
When the war is over
Once the war ends
I shall take my lute a-down to it
I will bring my lute and go to the war-torn area
And sing again songs of the whispering things
And I will sing songs of the peaceful things
Of the whispering things
Of the peaceful things
And those I love, and those I love
The people I love, the people I love
Shall know them by their strain
Will recognize them by the melody
Those I love
The people I love
And April rainbows win a blackbird's song
When April showers bring rainbows and the sound of a blackbird's song
Their airs shall be, their airs shall be
Their tunes will be, their tunes will be
The blackbird's twilight song
The melancholic song of a blackbird at dusk
But it is lonely now, lonely now
But currently, it is a lonely time
In winter, in winter long
During the long winter season
And, God, to hear the blackbird
And, oh God, to hear the blackbird's song
The blackbird sing once more
To hear the blackbird's song one more time
When the war is over, war is over
When the war ends, it will truly be over
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: . TRADITIONAL, AUTHOR UNKNOWN COMPOSER, COMPOSER AUTHOR UNKNOWN, MICHAEL MCGLYNN, MICHAEL PHILIP MCGLYNN
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