"Cuckoo Song" redirects here. For the Mike Oldfield single, see Cuckoo Song (song). "Sumer Is Icumen In" is a traditional English round, and possibly the oldest such example of counterpoint in existence. The title might be translated as "Summer has come in" or "Summer has arrived", though in Middle English the word summer extends over a longer period than the modern term.[1] Michael Gordon Oldfield (born May 15, 1953 in Reading, England) is a multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music and more recently dance. ...
A round is a musical composition in which two or more voices sing exactly the same melody over and over again, but with each voice beginning at different times. ...
For other uses, see Counterpoint (disambiguation). ...
The round is sometimes known as the Reading rota because the manuscript comes from Reading Abbey though it may not have been written there. It is the oldest piece of six-part polyphonic music (Albright, 1994). Its composer is anonymous, possibly W. de Wycombe, and it is estimated to date from around 1260. The manuscript is now at the British Library. The language is Middle English, more exactly Wessex dialect. Reading Abbey Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in Reading, Berkshire, founded by Henry I in 1121 for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors and successors. // History...
Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). ...
W. de Wycombe (Wicumbe, and perhaps Whichbury) (late 13th century) was an English composer and copyist of the Medieval era. ...
The magnificent Cathedral of Chartres was dedicated in 1260. ...
British Library main building, London The British Library (BL) is the national library of the United Kingdom. ...
Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the...
The West Country dialects and West Country accents are generic terms applied to any of several English dialects and accents used by much of the indigenous population of the southwestern part of England, the area popularly known as the West Country. ...
Music
The original manuscript, written in the mid-13th century, is written in a precursor of modern musical notation: (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
 To sing as a round, one singer would begin at the beginning, and a second would start at the beginning as the first got to the point marked with the red cross. The length between the start and the cross corresponds to the modern notion of a bar, and the main verse comprises six phrases spread over twelve such bars. In addition, there are two lines marked "Pes", two bars each, that are meant to be sung together repeatedly underneath the main verse. These instructions are included (in Latin) in the manuscript itself. Image File history File links SumerIsIcumenIn-line. ...
In musical notation, a bar or measure is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. ...
The music is somewhat more readable in modern notation:
 The song in modern staff notation Image File history File links Download high resolution version (826x590, 33 KB) Summary Transcribed from photo of original MS into modern music staff notation. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (826x590, 33 KB) Summary Transcribed from photo of original MS into modern music staff notation. ...
Image File history File links Sumer_is_icumen_in. ...
Image File history File links Sumer_is_icumen_in. ...
Image File history File links Sumer_is_icumen_in_(round). ...
Image File history File links Sumer_is_icumen_in_(round). ...
English lyrics (secular) The better-known lyrics for this piece are in Middle English, and comprise a song of spring (reverdie): Wikisource has original text related to this article: Five Middle English poems The reverdie is an old French poetic genre, which celebrates the arrival of spring. ...
Middle English - Svmer is icumen in,
- Lhude sing cuccu!
- Groweþ sed and bloweþ med
- And springþ þe wde nu,
- Sing cuccu!
- Awe bleteþ after lomb,
- Lhouþ after calue cu.
- Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ,
- Murie sing cuccu!
- Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes þu, cuccu;
- Ne swik þu nauer nu.
Pes: - Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu.
- Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu!
| Modern English translation - Summer has come in,
- Loudly sing, Cuckoo!
- The seed grows and the meadow blooms
- And the wood springs anew,
- Sing, Cuckoo!
- The ewe bleats after the lamb,
- The cow lows after the calf.
- The bullock stirs, the buck-goat turns,
- Merrily sing, Cuckoo!
- Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing, cuckoo;
- Don't you ever stop now,
- Sing cuckoo now. Sing, Cuckoo.
- Sing Cuckoo. Sing cuckoo now!
| Latin lyrics (sacred) This work is also one of the earliest examples of music with both religious and secular lyrics, though the secular ones are perhaps better known. It is not clear which came first, but the religious lyrics, in Latin, are a reflection on the sacrifice of the Crucifixion. Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...
For other uses, see Crucifixion (disambiguation). ...
Latin - Perspice Christicola†
- que dignacio
- Celicus agricola
- pro uitis vicio
- Filio
- non parcens exposuit mortis exicio
- Qui captiuos semiuiuos a supplicio
- Vite donat et secum coronat
- in celi solio
†written "χρ̅icola" in the manuscript | English translation - Observe, Christian, such honour!
- The heavenly farmer,
- due to a defect in the vine,
- not sparing the Son,
- exposed him to the destruction of death.
- To the captives half-dead from torment,
- He gives them life and crowns them with himself
- on the throne of heaven.
| In parody This piece was parodied in "Ancient Music" by American Poet, Ezra Pound (Lustra collection, 1913-1915): Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (Hailey, Idaho Territory, United States, October 30, 1885 – Venice, Italy, November 1, 1972) was an American expatriate poet, critic and intellectual who was a major figure of the Modernist movement in early-to-mid 20th century poetry. ...
- Winter is icumen in,
- Lhude sing Goddamm,
- Raineth drop and staineth slop,
- And how the wind doth ramm!
- Sing: Goddamm.
- Skiddeth bus and sloppeth us,
- An ague hath my ham.
- Freezeth river, turneth liver,
- Damm you; Sing: Goddamm.
- Goddamm, Goddamm, 'tis why I am, Goddamm,
- So 'gainst the winter's balm.
- Sing goddamm, damm, sing goddamm,
- Sing goddamm, sing goddamm, DAMM.
The melody of Sumer Is Icumen In was sung, with new lyrics, by the mice in each episode of the television series Bagpuss. Mice may refer to: An abbreviation of Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions. ...
Bagpuss and the mice For the village, see Kingston Bagpuize. ...
The song is also parodied by P. D. Q. Bach as "Summer is a cumin seed" for the penultimate movement of his Grand Oratorio The Seasonings. P. D. Q. Bach is a fictional composer invented by musical satirist Professor Peter Schickele. ...
In film The song was used at the climax of the film The Wicker Man. This article is about the 1973 film. ...
It was sung in the 1982 animated film The Flight of Dragons by the knight Sir Orin Neville-Smythe to drown out the sound of the sand merks. The Flight of Dragons is a 1982 animated movie produced by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. ...
The song was used in the 1993 film Shadowlands, the story of the romance between C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman. In that film, a choir of men and boys greets the sun at dawn on the summer solstice with the song. In the soundtrack recording released on Angel, the choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, was featured. Shadowlands is a 1993 movie directed by Richard Attenborough and written by William Nicholson, adapted from Nicholsons play also called Shadowlands. ...
Clive Staples Lewis (November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, was an author and scholar. ...
Joy Gresham (November 1915 - 1960) was a poet, a politically radical Jewish convert to orthodox Christianity, mother of Douglas Gresham, and wife of C. S. Lewis. ...
College name Magdalen College Latin name Collegium Beatae Mariae Magdalenae Named after Mary Magdalene Established 1458 Sister college Magdalene College, Cambridge President Professor David Clary FRS JCR President Jessica Jones Undergraduates 395 MCR President Eloise Scotford Graduates 230 Location of Magdalen College within central Oxford , Homepage Boatclub Magdalen College (pronounced...
The song was also used in the 1991 television movie Sarah, Plain and Tall, based on the children's book of the same name by Patricia MacLachlan. Sarah, played by Glenn Close, sings the song. “Telefilm†redirects here. ...
Sarah, Plain and Tall is a television movie (in this case a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie) filmed in 1991. ...
Sarah, Plain and Tall is a childrens book written by Patricia MacLachlan, winner of the Newbery Medal and the basis for three television movies, starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken. ...
Patricia MacLachlan is a bestselling childrens author, best known for winning the 1986 Newbery Medal for her book Sarah, Plain and Tall. ...
Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American film and stage actress and singer, perhaps best known for her role as a deranged stalker in Fatal Attraction (1987). ...
The round sung by the mice in the 1974 British Children's TV Show Bagpuss, starting with the words "We will fix it...", is to the tune of "Sumer is icumin in". Bagpuss and the mice For the village, see Kingston Bagpuize. ...
Notes - ^ Sumer is icumen in: Notes
Source - Albright, Daniel (2004). Modernism and Music: An Anthology of Sources. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-01267-0.
External links Wikisource has original text related to this article: | | Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ...
The original Wikisource logo. ...
For other uses, see Bangalore (disambiguation). ...
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