Anúna

IlluminationDanú ****

A quarter of a century has passed since Michael McGlynn and his choral ensemble Anúna first found voice in Trinity College. Their profile may be higher abroad than at home, but their 16th album reveals a still constant appetite for new horizons. Anúna's vocal ambitions have never been more evident than on Illumination, as McGlynn dives headlong into medieval tales of conflict and chivalry (Agincourt) and, just as comfortably, reinvents the Cajun song (La Chanson de Mardi Gras). Sacred music still glimmers in McGlynn's original Dormi Jesu, but the 16th-century French traditional Mignonne Allons is rendered timeless by Anúna's bare-boned arrangement. The richness of their reading of the Scots Gaelic Fionnghuala is a joy, as they revel in the rhythmic syllables of the piece. A vigorous collection, laden with surprises. anuna.ie

Download:Fionnghuala, Agincourt