SUMER IS ICUMEN In

Wind Ensemble / Marching Band

picc, 2 fl, ob, Eb cl, 2 Bb cl, bs cl, 2 bsn, 2 alto sax, ten sax, 2 hn, 3 tpt, bari, 2 tbn, tuba, perc
Duration: 3:00
Date of Arrangement: 1995

PROGRAM NOTES:

The original six-part polyphonic composition, Sumer is icumen in, dates from around 1250 and has been sung ever since to celebrate the coming of summer. Also known as the Summer Canon, it is the earliest extant secular composition in a distinctly tonal idiom. The original manuscript was possibly copied (and composed?) by John of Fornsete (Forcett is a village in Norfolk, England). Musicologists now agree that it was composed in a triple rhythm, usually transcribed in meters of three-four or six-eight, giving it a skipping, dance-like effect. This duple interpretation, incorporated into a modified march form, turns it into something that Sousa might have concocted in the 13th century. The original Middle English lyric and a modern translation are printed below:

Sumer is icumen in, Summer is a-coming in,

Lhudé sing cuccu; Loudly sing cuckoo

Groweth sed and bloweth med Grows the seed and blows the mead,

And springth the wudé nu. And grows the woods anew.

Sing cuccu! Sing cuckoo,

Awé bleteth after lomb, The ewe is bleating for her lamb,

Lhouth after calvé cu; The cow lows for her calf;

Bulluc sterteth, bucké verteth; The bullock leaps, the buck turns bold,

Murie sing cuccu. Merry sing, cuckoo,

Cuccu, cuccu, Cuckoo, cuckoo,

Wel singés thu, cuccu, Well singest thou cuckoo;

Ne swik thu naver nu. Never shall thou cease now.