Sumer is icumen in sung here by the Hilliard Ensemble
It seems a bit of a misnomer to put this under “Madrigal” Monday, but it’s a song that Arbor Consort sang in the past and that all early music enthusiasts are familiar with. This round is very old and quite important in music history.
Wikipedia has a lot of great information about it. I’ll paraphrase by saying it’s in Middle English, probably written at Reading Abbey in the 13th century. There is a LOT of reading that a person could do on Sumer is icumen in. If you’re very curious I suggest you exhaust some of the links that come up when you google it. If you’re only slightly curious, the overview provided here should be enough.
Luminarium.org has a picture of the original score.
The manuscript is the earliest known example of a song with both sacred and secular text. For the sake of completeness, we’ll provide both original sets of lyrics and their translations.
Lyrics from CPDL
Middle English
Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing Cuccu!
GroweÞ sed, and bloweÞ med,
and springÞ wde nu.
Sing Cuccu!
Awe bleteÞ after lomb,
lhouÞ after calve cu.
Bulluc sterteÞ,
bucke verteÞ,
murie sing Cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu,
wel singes Þu Cuccu
ne swik Þu naver nu.
Pes:
Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu!
*Note: Þ in Middle English sounds like “th”.
Modern English Lyrics
Summer is come,
sing loud, cuckoo!
The seed grows and the meadow blooms,
and now the wood turns green.
Sing, cuckoo!
Ewe bleats after lamb,
cow lows after calf,
bullock leaps,
buck farts,
sing merrily, cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo!
You sing well, cuckoo.
Don’t ever stop now.
Pes:
Sing cuckoo now. Sing, Cuckoo.
Sing Cuckoo. Sing cuckoo now!
Latin text
Perspice Christicola,
que digacio;
celicus agricola
pro vitis vicio,
filio,
non parcens exposuit
mortis exicio.
Qui captivos
Semivivos
a supplicio
Vite donat
et secum coronat
in celi solio.
English Translation
Observe, worshipper of Christ,
what gracious condescension!
The heavenly husband,
because of the vine’s imperfection,
not sparing his son,
exposed him
to death’s destruction.
The prisoners,
who are half-dead
on account of the death sentence,
he restores to life,
and crowns them at his side
on heaven’s throne.
-Trans. Ernest H. Sanders
CPDL suggests that the Latin text was added later to preserve the manuscript in Reading Abbey. Apparently the two texts, and which came first is a matter of some debate. It seems most people believe the song began as a secular folk song.
