Irish Choral Music & Celtic Underpants
Being ignorant of developments in Irish choral music in the early 1990s I was thinking I needed a severe scolding on the matter, ideally by a Celtic beauty in flowing robes. And in the crypt of an old church.
No sooner had I set this personal target than an ethereal voice sang an introduction to that bunch of dancers in an ad break, and everybody was wanting a celtic whipping in among the drifting robes and dry ice.
Friends of mine who had been attending Anúna performances for years chastized me for my ignorance, but they did so on a lunch break and usually in a bank uniform. The steam of the tea and coffee did not make it a Celtic experience.
The first album by Anúna in five years Sensation, has just been released and the Irish Event Guide has an interview with Michael McGlynn, the director of Anúna, who is in reflective mood on the Celtic rollercoaster Anúna and Irish choral music have been on since that Eurovision ad break:
When we started it was very much to tie in with this idea of trying to express ourselves as Irish people, so there was a real cultural basis, which was how it lead into the involvement with the whole Celtic thing and Riverdance and all that, which sadly I think has made the whole thing over commercialised. Anuna, which had so much to offer has just been stampeded by shows like Celtic Underpants!
If you can’t remember their early involvement in Riverdance, you might know that touring the US at the moment is Celtic Woman, which features Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, a former Anúna singer.
If songs a thousand years old is your fancy - and it should be if you’ve ever voted in a best of millenium poll - you can listen to four songs on their MySpace page. Go on, get your Celtic rocks off.
Video of “Media Vita” by Anuna. Courtesy Celtic Heartbeat, from the Album ANUNA:
Video of Bluebird, powerful stuff for anyone who’s particularly fond of the colour blue. And birds:
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