"Sumer Is Icumen In" is a traditional English medieval 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".
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.
(From the YouTube video site.)
Translated:
Summer has arrived,
Loudly sing, Cuckoo!
The seed grows and the meadow
blooms
And the wood springs anew.....etc.
A few, more modern, celebrations of the season:
HAPPY DAZE!
7 comments:
A happy summer solstice to you and anyjazz! Full Moon this morning, too! I'd never heard of "Sumer Is Icumen In" before now. Is it a popular solstice song, sang around Stonehenge?
As I've mentioned many times in the past, reaching the solstice means there's only another four months or so of horrid heat and humidity here. Toward the end of February, I have numerous mental moans and groans about the encroaching eight months of summer we endure here in the deep South. We are at the halfway point now, so there's an end in sight, but not before the worst of the summer flames and vapors.
A little Sam Cooke, "Summer Time":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWFJLUBwpSY
Mungo Jerry with "In the Summer", a tune I remember from the tumultuous 1970s era of change:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvUQcnfwUUM
mike ~ We thank you, and say Happy Solstice and summer to you too, mike! :-)
I'd not be surprised if the "cuckoo" song were sung at the gatherings at Stonehenge, but I don't know for sure. I used to hear it played on the radio at this time of year.
I'm sick of the heat and this year's awful humidity already. My favourite line of "The Summer Knows" (above) is "It's time to dress for Fall"!
There's not much chance of getting away from the heat for a day or two - Kansas temps are way high - equal to our own just now. It might be nice and fresh atop some mountain somewhere - but too far away, and at an altitude not beneficial to us. Thank dog for AC - though I do try to limit its use as much as poss.
Thanks for the tunes!
Well, all you have to say is "Summertime" and my mind goes here first:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRuzBp7eIP8
and then here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgmEY41baKM
But that's just me.
anyjazz ~ Thanks. LOL to the first - thumbs up to the second! :-)
Summertime? Ha! It's been rainy, cold, and windy for the last week here in France. Heads up to AnyJazz for two great YouTube videos, though.
Happy Solstice to you both.
RJ Adams ~ Thanks RJ - and back atcha! Swap you a couple of hours of rain and cold for a couple of hours of humid 95* heat (feels like 111*)? ;-)
nice post
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