CD REVIEW
Reviews of OMNIS
Nashville Tennessean, September, 1997.
Angels high in the heavens must be confused, wondering how some mere mortal was able to bootleg one of their singing sessions and release it under the name Anúna.
But such confusion would be understandable after hearing Omnis, the hauntingly new album by Anúna, a choral group from Dublin, Ireland - not heaven. Some people may know Anúna from the group's appearance in Riverdance, that smash stage production built around traditional Irish dance and music. Omnis continues in the tradition of the group's Riverdance pieces and its two previous albums. Call this music Celtic chant, if you will. Singing in Gaelic, either a capella or backed by gentle harps and murmuring drums, Anúna performs hymns written by 12th Century mystics and monks, or later songs about mythic Celtic warriors or Ireland's great Famine of the mid-19th century.
Some of the works on Omnis feature the actual music of centuries past. Some of the works feature the texts of ancient prayers and poems, but with medieval-like music composed by Anúna founder Michael McGlynn (perhaps reconstructed and re-imagined is a better way to describe McGlynn's approach.)
In either event, the voices of Anúna are profoundly striking. At times this music is ethereal and soothing. At times, especially when these chants showcase the crystal-voiced Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, this music is soul-disturbing, almost chilling-like encountering a melancholy banshee at midnight on a country road, quietly singing to itself.
But don't worry about those angels in heaven being confused - or jealous. They'll be too charmed and mesmerized by Anúna for anything other than joy for their music.
The Oregonian, September, 1997 * * * *
Let’s just say this bluntly: "Omnis", by the enchanting Irish a cappella choral group Anuna, is one of [the] top Celtic CDs of 1997.
The 14-member classics group is devoted to the cultural heritage of Ireland’s turbulent past. Not that its work is bound by the Emerald Isle: Early Christian and Medieval hymns. English plainsong and the songs of the German mystic, artist and abbess Hildegard of Bingen are among its many influences. Sung in Irish, Latin, English and Scots-Gaelic - sometimes several in the same song - Anuna delves into authentic ancient texts, often with a vibrant contemporary flair.
"Gaudete", from the 16th-century School of Alo [sic] in Finland, of all places, opens the CD with a familiar, strident song (you’ll recognise it when you hear it). Heavy droning in the moody "Ardaigh Cuan" sound typically medieval, yet its a contemporary dirge about the Great Famine in the mid-19th century that lacerated Ireland’s soul. Michael McGlynn lends his sterling tenor to a crystalline love song from Count Down, "The Flower of Maherally".
Among the CD’s most stunning music is a medley of Hildegard’s "Ave Generosa" ("Hail, girl of nobility/ Unstained and shining/You pupil in the eye of chastity,/ You embodiment of holiness,/ Pleasing unto God./Ave.") that blends almost seamlessly into McGlynn’s own "O Viridissima".
In the latter, McGlynn evokes a panoply of angelic voices that cascades down over Eimear Quinn’s remarkable soprano devotion to God. These works are breathtaking.
From a 13th-century hunting song that evokes mythic Celtic warrior legends Oisín, Caoilte and Fionn; to an abstract and strangely compelling folk tale "The Mermaid"; to the earliest known Christian songs - the Tenebrae Repositories [sic], dating to the fourth century, - the result is an awe-full experience.
Kevin Murphy