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Sumer Is Icumen in

This document provides a score and pronunciation guide for the medieval English round "Sumer Is Icumen In". It is one of the oldest known rounds, written down in the 13th century. The song can be sung in six parts or with an ostinato repeated throughout. It uses Middle English words to describe the arrival of summer and features the call of the cuckoo bird.

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Jennifer Robbins
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284 views3 pages

Sumer Is Icumen in

This document provides a score and pronunciation guide for the medieval English round "Sumer Is Icumen In". It is one of the oldest known rounds, written down in the 13th century. The song can be sung in six parts or with an ostinato repeated throughout. It uses Middle English words to describe the arrival of summer and features the call of the cuckoo bird.

Uploaded by

Jennifer Robbins
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SCORE PREP for “SUMER IS ICUMEN IN”

"Sumer Is Icumen In" is a very old English song which can be sung as a round.
It is the oldest example of a round that we know of. The composer is unknown.

It was written down around the middle of the 13th century by a monk but we do not know
whether that monk composed it, or whether it had been composed earlier.

The round can be sung in six parts. There are also two parts which can be repeated again
and again (an ostinato) throughout the piece.

The language is Middle English and is based on the dialect spoken in Wessex, England at the
time.
Middle (Medieval) English words Modern English

Sumer is icumen in, Summer has arrived,


Lhude sing cuccu! Loudly sing, Cuckoo!
Groweþ sed and bloweþ me' Seeds grow and meadows bloom
And springþ þe wde nu, And the forest springs anew,
Sing cuccu! Sing, Cuckoo!-
Awe bleteþ after lomb, The ewe bleats after the lamb,
Lhouþ after calue cu. The cow lows after the calf,
Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ, The bullock jumps, the stag cavorts,
Murie sing cuccu! Merrily sing, Cuckoo!
Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes þu, cuccu; Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing, cuckoo;
Ne swik þu nauer nu. Nor will you ever stop now.
This score is in 12-8 time

Remember: ♩ = ♪♪
C MAJOR SOLFEGE no sharps/flats = C Major C = 1st leger line below E on treble clef AND the 3rd space
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE:

/su-mrr ˆz ˆ-ku-m'n ˆn/


Sumer is icumen in,
Summer is here

/lu-d\ sˆ˜ ku-ku/


Llude sing cuccu,
Loudly sing cuckoo

/gra¨-ˆ† s´d ant bla¨-ˆ† m´d ant ßprˆ˜† ∂\ wu-d\ nu/


Groweth sed and bloweth med and springth the wude nu.
Growing is seed and blooming is meadow and coming into leaf
is the wood now

/sˆ˜ ku-ku/
Sing cuccu!
Sing cuckoo

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