REVELATION

Mononoke Hime [3.49]
Fáilte don Éan (Welcome to the Bird) [3.28]
Na Coille Cumhra (The Fragrant Wood) [3.14]
Sanctus Santua [3.59]
One Last Song [3.21]
Elegy [2.18]
The Maid of Coolmore [3.00]
Amhrán na Gaoithe (Song of the Wind) [4.39]
Revelation [6.21]
Loves Old Sweet Song [4.08]
Sakura [4.17]
Fill, fill. A Rún (Come back My Love) [5.24]

After a long silence Revelation appeared in 2015. The previous releases Illumination (2012) and its revision Illuminations (2014) were quasi-compilation albums made to mark the 25th anniversary of Anúna. Neither was conceived as a fully coherent work. By this point one era of the group had ended and another was beginning.

After 2013 there was a large influx of new singers, many from outside the Republic of Ireland. Several came from Northern Ireland and, for the first time, international singers became a regular presence. This shift had a profound effect on the ethos of the group. Anúna’s relationship with Northern Ireland had always been strong. Some of our earliest concerts took place there, even during periods of violence, and we were always welcomed. The new singers brought with them a very different understanding of Ireland from the one that had become publicly associated with Anúna over the previous twenty-five years. Their influence remains central to the group today. The easy assumptions of Irish nationalism fell away and were replaced by a broader and more complex set of ideas. This was challenging for a group whose public image was still rooted in the early 1990s, but it aligned closely with my own development as a writer.

The immediate predecessor of Revelation was Sensation (2006), a dark and eclectic album that moved far from the inspirations that had shaped earlier work. In many ways Revelation feels like a return home, with a strong presence of Irish-language texts and a sound world that deliberately echoes the recording process of the 1993 debut album Anúna. There is a great deal of energy in the recording and the solo voices are far more integrated into the choral texture.

During the writing of the album my father Andrew was dying and, in many respects, this is a work shaped by grief and loss. It took several years after his death in 2015 for that to fully settle, but it is clearly reflected in the choice of texts. My uncle John plays mouth organ on “Elegy”, a deeply emotional moment that stands out in my memory of the recording sessions.

I believe the album contains some of the most important music I have written, including the title track and the very simple One Last Song, inspired by the poetry of Francis Ledwidge. Much of what defines Anúna today is present here. A sense of adventure combined with a degree of chaos in the recording process, music often presented on the day, and performances that may be imperfect but are charged with the energy that only exists in the moment.

Michael McGlynn 2025

ANÚNA

Director Michael McGlynn

Aidan Gately
Andrea Delaney
Bláth Conroy Murphy
Caitlin Frizzell
Dónal Kearney
Éabha McMahon
George Hutton
Ian Curran
Laura Inman
Lucy Champion
Miriam Blennerhassett
Monica Donlon
Nejc Rudel
Nickolas Stoppel
Rachel Thompson
Rebekah Comerford
Regina McDonald
Sam Kreidenweis
Sara Di Bella
Shane McCormack
Zachary Trouton

Produced by Brian Masterson & Michael McGlynn
Engineered and recorded by Brian Masterson at Soundscape Studios
and on location in Ireland assisted by George Janho.

“Sakura”, “Mononoke Hime” & Amhrán na Gaoithe” conducted by Stacie Lee Rossow
“Mononoke Hime” lyrics used with the kind permission of Studio Ghibli.
Sheet Music available from www.michaelmcglynn.com - Anúna Teoranta 2015

Mononoke Hime (Spirit Princess)

Written by Joe Hisaishi, copyright Studio Ghibli.
Theme from the film “Princess Mononoke” (もののけ姫) created by Hayao Miyazaki. This choral arrangement is by Michael McGlynn.
Solo voice Sara Di Bella
Descant Lucy Champion

はりつめた弓のふるえる弦よ
月の光にざわめくおまえの心

とぎすまされた刃の美しい
そのきっさきによく似たそなたの横顔

悲しみと怒りにひそむまことの心を
知るは森の精
もののけたちだけもののけたちだけ

O trembling string of the tightly drawn bow,
your heart rustling in the moonlight.

Beautiful as a honed blade,
your profile so like its sharpened tip.

The true heart hidden in sorrow and anger
is known only by the spirits of the forest,
only by the yōkai, only by the yōkai.

Fáilte don Éan (Welcome to the Bird)

Music by Michael McGlynn, text by the blind Ulster poet Séamus Dall Mac Cuarta (1650 to 1733)
Solo vocal Lynn Hilary

Fáilte don éan is binne ar chraoibh
Labhras ar caoin na dtor le gréin.
Domsa is fada tuirse an tsaoil
Nach bhfeiceann í le teacht an fhéir.

Cluinim, cé nach bhfeicim a gné,
Seinnm an éan darb ainm cuach;
Amharc uirthi i mbarra géag
Mo thuirse ghéar nach mise fuair.

Gach neach dá bhfeiceann cruth an éin,
Amharc Éireann deas is tuaidh,
Blátha na dtulca ar gach taoibh,
Dóibh is aoibhinn bheith dá lua.

Welcome to the bird, the sweetest on the trees
Who sings the beauty of greenery to the sun.
I am long tired of this life
For I cannot see her when the new grass comes.

I can hear it, though I cannot see her,
The chant of the bird they call cuckoo;
To look on her in the branches above
It is my bitter grief that I don’t have that gift.

Each one may behold the charm of the bird,
For all Ireland is gazing, north and south,
With all of the flowers on the hills around,
And everyone can speak of such things with delight.

(Abridged)

Na Coille Cumhra (The Fragrant Wood)

Music by Michael McGlynn, text traditional Irish
Solo vocal Dónal Kearney

A chumainn is a shearc, rachaimid-ne seal
faoi choillte ag scaipeadh drúchta,
Mar a bhfaighimid-ne breac, is lon ar an nead,
an fia agus an boc ag búireadh;

A rún agus a shearc, gluaisfimid gan stad
go coillte breá glasa an Triúcha
A chúl álainn tais na bhfáinní cas,
is breá 's deas do shúile.

An t-éinín is binne ar ghéaga ag seinm
an chuaichín ar barr an iúir ghlais;
Is go bráth, bráth ní thiocfaidh an bás 'nár ngoire
i lár na coille cumhra.

My love and desire, we will go for a while
beneath the woods, scattering the dew.
We will find the trout and the blackbird on her nest,
the bellowing deer and stag.

My dear, my love, let us go without waiting
to the lovely green woods of Triúcha
Soft beautiful hair in twisting curls
your eyes are fine and lovely.

The sweetest bird singing on a branch
the cuckoo on the top of the green yew tree;
And death will never, never come to us
in the middle of the fragrant woods.

Sanctus Santua

Music by Michael McGlynn, text early Christian
Solo voice Rachel Thompson

Sanctus, Santua
Dominus Deus sabbaoth
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua,
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis

Holy, holy
Lord God of might;
Your glory fills all of heaven and earth
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest

Commissioned by Kantika Korala, conductor Basilio Astulez Duque

One Last Song

Words and music by Michael McGlynn.
Solo voice Michael McGlynn

Sing me one last song that will carry me away
To the warm summer memory of home;
And that old melody softly echoes on the breeze,
To a pathway that I must walk alone.

I have loved, I have lain on the dewy morning fields
With a cloud of apple blossom in the air.
So lay me down.
I'm weary of the cries and distant drums.

One last farewell.
The time for endless sleep will come.
Sing me one last song as the evening shadows fall
From the gold chariot reaching from the west.

Raise up one last glass, as I hear the boatman call
And an old song will carry me to rest.
I have loved, I have lain on the dewy morning fields
With a cloud of apple blossom in the air.

So lay me down.
I'm weary of the cries and distant drums.
One last farewell.
The time for endless sleep has come.

Elegy

Music Michael McGlynn, text from the Book of Ecclesiasticus 11:7.

Blues Harp played by John McGlynn (senior)
Solo voice Rachel Thompson

Dulce lumen et delectabile est oculis videre solem
Truly the light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.

To an old soldier

The Maid of Coolmore

Traditional Irish, arranged Michael McGlynn
Solo voice George Hutton

From sweet Londonderry to fair London town
There is no better harbour on this coast can be found
Where the children do wander as they play along the shore
And the joy bells are ringing for the maid of Coolmore

The first time that I met her, she passed me by.
The next time that I saw her, she bid me goodbye
But the third time I met her, she grieved my heart sore
For she sailed down Lough Foyle and away from Coolmore.

If I had the power, a great storm to rise
The wind to blow high and the seas for to roar
The wind to blow high and to darken the skies
The day that my true love sailed away from Coolmore.

To the north coast of America my love I'll go see,
It is there I know no one and no one knows me.
But if I do not find her I'll return home no more
Like a pilgrim I'll wander for the maid of Coolmore.

Amhrán na Gaoithe (Song of the Wind)

Words and music by Michael McGlynn

Amhrán na gaoithe,
An at an taoide.
Ar na dtonnta fionnuar,
Scáth dorch' os cionn uisce liath

Song of the wind,
The swelling of the tide.
On the cool waves,
Dark shadow over grey water.

Commissioned by Chanticleer

Revelation

Music by Michael McGlynn, text from Revelation 7:1.
Solo voices Andrea Delaney & Lucy Champion
Semi Chorus Rachel Thompson, Cait Frizzell, Lucy Champion, Bláth Conroy Murphy.

Archangeli.
Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel
Salva nos, Libera nos.

Post hæc vidi quattuor Angelos stantes super quattuor angulos terræ, tenentes quattuor ventos terræ ne flarent super terram, neque super mare, neque in ullam arborem.

Archangels.
Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel
Protect us, deliver us.

And after these things I saw four Angels standing on the four corners of the Earth, holding the four winds of the land, so that the wind may not blow upon the land, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree.

Love's Old Sweet Song

Published first in 1884 with music by J.L. Molloy and lyrics by G. Clifton Bingham
Arranged by Michael McGlynn.
Solo voice Michael McGlynn

Once in the dear dead days beyond recall,
When on the world the mists began to fall,
Out of the dreams that rose in happy throng
Low to our hearts Love sang an old sweet song;
And in the dusk where fell the firelight gleam,
Softly it wove itself into our dream.

Just a song at twilight, when the lights are low,
And the flick'ring shadows softly come and go,
Tho' the heart be weary, sad the day and long,
Still to us at twilight comes Love's old song,
Comes Love's old sweet song.

Even today we hear Love's song of yore,
Deep in our hearts it dwells forevermore.
Footsteps may falter, weary grow the way,
Still we can hear it at the close of day.
So till the end, when life's dim shadows fall,
Love will be found the sweetest song of all.

Sakura

Traditional Japanese arranged by Michael McGlynn
Descant Caitlin Frizzell

桜桜野山も里も
見渡す限り霞か雲か
朝日に匂う
桜桜花ざかり
桜桜弥生の空は
見渡す限り霞か雲か
匂いぞ出ずる
いざやいざや
見に行かん

Cherry blossoms, in fields and villages
As far as you can see.
Is it a mist, or clouds?
Fragrant in the morning sun.
Cherry blossoms, flowers in full bloom.
Cherry blossoms across the spring sky,
As far as you can see.
Is it a mist, or clouds?
Fragrant in the air.
Come now, come now, let us look, at last.

Fill, fill a Rún

Traditional Irish, arranged by Michael McGlynn
Solo voice Éabha McMahon

A dark and tragic story from the 18th century concerning the story of a young man who has taken a ministry in the Protestant faith during the Penal times in Ireland.

Fill, fill a rún ó
Fill, a rún is ná himigh uaim
Fill orm a chuisle is a stór
Agus chífidh tú an glóir má fhillean tú

Come back, come back my love
Come back my love and do not leave me
Come back to me my darling and my treasure
And you have glory if you return.