Sumer is Icumen in (The Hilliard Ensemble)

Disclaimer: I do not own the music or images.

"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.


Middle English


Sumer 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


Summer has arrived,
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 stag farts,
Merrily sing, Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing,
cuckoo;
Don't ever you stop now,
Sing cuckoo now. Sing, Cuckoo.
Sing Cuckoo. Sing cuckoo now!

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[OzzInter]

Interesting to see how much closer Middle English was to say German or Dutch.

The letter that looks like a modified lower case "p" is pronounced as an unvoiced "th"

growep= "groweth" blowep= "bloweth"

Thanks for supplying a Modern English translation.

[aNGLICANcHOIR92]

And thanks for your observation! It's neat to think about how completely brand new the English language is.

[grungass]

so it's not just 'Summer is a-coming in'?

[aNGLICANcHOIR92]

Nope. Old English. ;)

[Adam Flokovsky]

*Middle English. ;)

[aNGLICANcHOIR92]

My mistake! ;)

[fairplaynationalist2]

Old English is closer but in middle English the transition to modern English had already started. In the text above we can make out the earlier spellings of modern English words and the grammar has completely changed from the Old English, You refer to the voiced and unvoiced th which of course do not exist in German or Dutch. We as English speakers can get more out of this text than an elderly german or dutchman who has never been exposed to English

[patukott]

Of course English didn't cease to exist, nor did its development come to a halt in 1066.

[Dietrich Buxtehude]

as the character "þ" didn't exsist when it appeared in the british island for the very first time, it was substituted by "Y". That's why in the old signals is written sometimes "Ye old shoppe" for example, "Y" stands for "Th": "The old shoppe"

[Catherine S. Todd]

Thank you for uploading this video, along with the excellent, detailed commentary. I just discovered The Hilliard Ensemble via "O Salutaris Hostia" and others with Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble, and a number of others. Their work with Garaberek is just stunningly beautiful; some of the most beautiful, soul searching and peaceful music I've found. I had no idea they also did so much with old English folk songs, Medieval and more. Gracias!

[fairplaynationalist2]

What is interesting is that in the two hundred year since the Norman conquest how little French had entered into everyday language (which is how songs were). It shows that English may have evolved in this way anyway as different old English dialects and Danish in the north had to achieve mutual understanding and getting rid of the heavy inflected grammar (five cases, three genders) was a sensible step. Sticking th and s onto everything was a sensible way forward

[wmgrise]

This English definitely does sound as though it hearkens back to its German roots!