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"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] The Celtic feast of Beltane, celebrated at the beginning of May, was considered to be the beginning of summer.

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.

Contents 1 Music 2 English lyrics (secular) 2.1 Modern English translation 3 Latin lyrics (sacred) 3.1 English translation 4 In film 5 On record 6 In parody 7 Notes 8 Source 9 External links

The original manuscript, written in the mid-13th century, is written in a precursor of modern musical notation:

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.

The music is somewhat more readable in modern notation:

The better-known lyrics for this piece are in Middle English, and comprise a song of spring (reverdie):

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!

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!

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.

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

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.

The song was used at the climax of the film The Wicker Man.

The song was also used in the film Shadowlands (film) (1993), the story of C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman's doomed romance. 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.

Also used in TV film Sarah, Plain and Tall (film) (1991), based on the children's book by Patricia MacLachlan (Sarah, Plain and Tall ) - with Glenn Close (singing the song) & Christopher Walken.

The Song was included in the CD 1000 Years Of Popular Music recorded by the British musician Richard Thompson. A DVD version of a similar concert, also featuring this song, was released in June 2006.

The song was also recorded as "Summer Is A Coming-In" under the name of "Mr & Mrs Smith & Mr Drake" on a 1991 cassette only album (now available on CD), & is more faithful to the original notation than the version made popular by 'The Wicker Man' film. This band later settled on the name of the Sea Nymphs. This was one of the many "at whim" side projects of the eccentric English "pronk" band Cardiacs: the dramatis personae being Tim Smith, Sarah Smith & William D Drake.

This piece was parodied in "Ancient Music" by American Poet, Ezra Pound (Lustra collection, 1913-1915):

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.

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.

• Albright, Daniel (2004). Modernism and Music: An Anthology of Sources. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-01267-0.

• Original Manuscript from the British Library in London, MS Harley 978, f. 11v - includes translation
• Original & Translation
• Music sheet
• Music, text, audio and translation
• Another music sheet
• Sumer Is Icumen In as interactive hypermedia at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext (Shockwave Player required)
• Sumer Is Icumen In, performed live by "Madrigals, Etc" in Bangalore, India (Shockwave Player required)