This was an unusual occasion, in many ways. It was my first assignment on behalf of Celtic Cafe, also my first visit to a full concert by Anúna, and not a typical one for them either. A larger gathering of the members was performing than is customary, 22 in all, and the concert was not in a theatre setting but in the lovely Pepper Cannister Church near the canal in Dublin, a small and intimate setting quite perfect for the whole concept of Anúna. It was also a mild, still summer evening so that natural light graced the interior well into the evening, darkness coming only gradually.
My previous experiences of Anúna, apart from listening to their CDs and witnessing on TV their part in the famous Eurovison Riverdance interval piece of 1994, had been only through two performances of Riverdance at The Point Theatre in Dublin in the summer of 1995 (the true, original show), and recently at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin when they were guests of the fabulous Secret Garden group and received a great, well-deserved, ovation. So I was delighted to have the opportunity to attend a full evening of Anúna's work and I think I was very lucky that it was this particular evening. Not being deeply 'into' choral music I was uncertain of what to expect or the impact of a full evening of completely unaccompanied voices; it could have been rather static and heavy to one not educated enough to appreciate all the technicalities. I need have had no such thoughts. I came away from the concert feeling stimulated and enthused and wishing for another one, filled with the life and energy of the singers' obvious joy in their craft and delighted by their welcoming warmth and friendliness. Judging by the attitude of the audience leaving the church afterwards it was a universal feeling.
The programme covered a wide range of Anúna's work, including ancient and modern pieces, and I was impressed by the number they performed. No programme leaflets were available (the financial constraints of our modern world!) but the audience did not have to listen blind or have fore-knowledge as Michael and John McGlynn made a superb job of introducing the pieces, not just by name but with wonderful anecdotal background descriptions which brought the pieces to life and gave just the right touches of humour to the moment. I love this relaxed and spontaneous way of interacting with an audience and feel it adds greatly to a performance.
The other special feature of this Anúna concert was the movement of the singers. Instead of remaining constantly on the stage before the audience, from the beginning they were in motion through the church, entering up the centre and side aisles while beginning the first song, the procession beautifully choreographed to create an atmosphere of tranquility and envelope the audience in the sweet sound of the voices. The elegant black velvet dresses of the ladies and the candles they carried all added to the imagery perfectly, and of course the unique acoustics of the small church were ideal. This was a choir as it was supposed to be heard, with no electronic enhancement necessary. There was of course a microphone at the front of the church for certain times, but the most effective moments for me were those when the voices surrounded me from different parts of the church, often unexpectedly, and I particularly loved the sudden sound of a solo soprano coming from way behind me at the back of the church, then moving slowly forward towards the stage. And as the evening drew in, the atmosphere of all of it grew naturally deeper as darkness fell outside and the few artificial internal lights took effect, every so often highlighted by the candles the members carried.
The evening began with "The Dawn," a piece which provided the perfect entry for the ethereal voices of the ladies, candles in hand, through the church.
The next piece was a wonderful version of "Marble Halls," with lovely solo performance by Joanna Fagan. Sometimes, when a listener is attached to a specific version of a song it is hard to appreciate a new one immediately, and I could not count the number of times I have enjoyed Anne Buckley's version of this song from Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames, both live and on CD, but Anúna make it all their own, quite different and equally exquisite, and Joanna, both in look and voice, is perfect for it.
Then came "Paternoster," a Byzantine setting of 'Our Father', followed by "Si do Mhaimeo," and "Sanctus," "Cormacus Scripsit." The latter I found very interesting for its ancient origins, for we were told that it is in fact from the 11th century and the first 3-part piece of its kind in the world, composed as a doodle in the margin of the Papal Bull of an Irish monk, Cormac. During this piece we were treated to the moving characters in the song once again, the whole group gliding down the side and centre aisles so that the audience was in the midst of the sound of the choir - pure magic!
Then followed Elvis Costello's "Deep Dead Blue" (clever juxtaposition of the ancient and the modern compositions) which Anúna followers know so well as the title track on one of their albums. With its strange sound and lyric this is particularly effective in live performance.
More poetry inspired pieces came then, "The Green Laurel," and "Midnight" (a tale from poet Francis Leveridge of a dying soldier), then an exquisitely spiritual rendering of "Alleluia." The first half of the concert closed with a beautiful track form the forthcoming CD which is as yet untitled. The track, "An Oiche," tells an 18th century tale of a young couple caught out in the rain - our host with wicked Irish twinkle in the eye telling us the final verse is omitted as it tells of the maiden being murdered by her lover! Truth, or one of our Irish yarns spun for the moment? No matter, the audience loved it anyway.
In the second half the programme began with the work of the German nun Hildegard von Bingen, who was clearly quite a character so many centuries ago. Her composition was brought to sweetest 21st century life by Kim Fagan and Kyra Deegan's lovely solos.
Another lovely solo by Monica Donlon brought to life another ancient piece, from St. Columbanus this time, "Heia Viri," words extoling the virtues of strength against foes, written, we were told while retreating hastily from his foes!
The mood was then given new beat as Steven Kenny's bodhrán gave backing to the rhythmic chant of "Geantrai," then promptly altered again with the evocative "Stor mo Chroi" (Flower of Maherally), with dramatic lead vocal from Michael McGlynn giving this Northern Irish love story unique character.
The sources of Anúna's songs are wide-ranging, which certainly adds to their appeal for me. Next we were offered a piece named "When I was in My Prime," from Nova Scotia's English heritage rather than Gaelic, and Joanna Fagan and Roisin O'Reilly's voices gave the song a wonderful clarity and sweet sound.
An ambitious piece was the next number, "Jerusalem," a very unusual 17th-century composition by a Catholic priest in modern times refered to as 'chance' music, for the apparent deliberate lack of time harmony among the voices. I cannot imagine how difficult the actual harmonies of this piece must be to get right in rehearsal! It provided a fascinating layering of female voices intermingled with pure moments of solo. By this time deep twilight had come outside and was adding perfectly to the atmosphere of haunting longing in the sounds, voices once again in motion as the singers moved around the church.
We then heard a 1798 song, sung by Therese McCartin, which Anúna performed in Kerry and were amazed to find everyone singing along to. Audience reaction is iportant to Anúna, and in his introduction to this song Michael told us one of the key aims of the group is to explore the traditional Irish sounds and their impact together with the more modern as they perform them around the world, and they have exciting projects coming, including trips to Poland, Italy and New York.
Continuing the story-telling themes, the next song, an all-male chant, "Dulaman," told the tale of the marriage of two seaweeds, a song traditionally sung by the men as they gathered the seaweed to use as fertiliser for the potato fields.
Then came a chant by all the members, male and female, telling a sad tale of a fish and a blacksmith (...? only in Ireland could there be such a tale!), and this is another one that must be a nightmare to learn. Anúna executed it with incredible speed and perfect diction which are essential to it ..... not one to try with a hang-over for sure.
"Fionnghuala," an old Scots gaelic song, a lovely rendering of "The Bluebird" by Irish composer Charles William Stafford, and "Pie Jesu," a requiem written after the Omagh bomb tragedy of 1998, brought the concert to a close.
One encore song was performed, the lovely "Innisfree" from the Yeats poem, and this was dedicated to Miriam because this was her last concert with the group before she leaves to become a mother once again, as Michael said, providing the next generation of Anúna! As one of the singers said later, wouldn't it be wonderful if her unborn child could have memory of the evening! What a special welcome for that baby coming into the world.
Before the encore Michael and John paid tribute to the skill and dedication of all the members of Anúna, quite rightly pointing out to the audience that producing the complex sounds of these songs is no easy matter. I liked the fact that the sophistication of the work and the high standard reached was acknowledged in this way. Such appreciation of their achievement is all-important since it must be supremely difficult, given that the art form which Anúna creates is not recognised as serious, classical art even today here in Ireland, and of course no funding to assist their highly valuable cultural contribution to our country exists. Therefore all that the choir members do must be fitted in around normal lives with other occupations to feed their families... yet what they attain is professional excellence in every detail. With no help at all, and probably much hindrance and resistance from many quarters, Anúna have been enormously successful and are internationally acclaimed, due in no small part I feel sure to the strength of personality and determined enthusiasm of Michael and John McGlynn in leading the group, and they deserve much more. Their fan following is such that aficionados travel from afar to be at the concerts; this one apparently was fitted carefully into two honeymoon couples' schedules, and the educational and cultural impact is such that musical students have come to study in Dublin as result of their interest in Anúna and one has even become a member of the group - what a dream-come-true that must be! So I found it profoundly sad and unjust, on asking Michael later if he forsaw a day when Anúna could become 'the day job' for all its members, that the answer (as I suspected it would be) had to be 'No.' Michael has such positive spirit that he appears to be very philosophical about it, but looking on from the outside and being possessed of a very deep sense of justice, I find it difficult not to feel much more strongly indignant about it and would wish fervently that something could be done to change the situation for the future. For now all the public can do is support groups like Anúna whenever possible, and right now look out for the new CDs to add to their music libraries.
I had a wonderful evening at this concert. I thank Celtic Cafe for the opportunity to be there and report on the event, and I particularly thank Michael and John and the members of the group whom I met for their great welcome and extension of friendship. I have been promised prior notice of the next event for Anúna in Dublin, and unless life should cause me to be on the opposite side of the world at the time (unlikely!) I will certainly be there and would encourage anyone with a chance to attend one of their shows not to miss it.
