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"Sumer is icumen in" is the incipit of a medieval English round or rota of the mid-13th century; it is also known variously as the Summer Canon and the Cuckoo Song. The line translates approximately to "Summer has come" or "Summer has arrived". [2] The song is written in the Wessex dialect of Middle English.
In the strictest sense, English folk music has existed since the arrival of the Anglo-Saxon people in Britain after 400 AD. The Venerable Bede's story of the cattleman and later ecclesiastical musician Cædmon indicates that in the early medieval period it was normal at feasts to pass around the harp and sing 'vain and idle songs'. [1]
Music in Medieval England, from the end of Roman rule in the fifth century until the Reformation in the sixteenth century, was a diverse and rich culture, including sacred and secular music and ranging from the popular to the elite. The sources of English secular music are much more limited than for ecclesiastical music.
Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, [1] from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the first and longest major era of Western classical music and is followed by the Renaissance music; the two eras comprise what musicologists generally term as early music, preceding the common practice period.
The earliest surviving piece of composed music in the British Isles, and perhaps the oldest recorded folk song in Europe, is a rota: a setting of 'Sumer Is Icumen In' ('Summer is a-coming in') from the mid-13th century, possibly written by W. de Wycombe, precentor of the priory of Leominster in Herefordshire, and set for six parts. [17]
Chorus [5]. The pattern of a strophe (verse) sung in English followed by a burden (chorus) in Latin followed a structure typical of the religious carols of the period. [6]The Agincourt Carol was recorded by The Young Tradition on Galleries, [7] (with both the Early Music Consort and Dave Swarbrick contributing), and by the Silly Sisters (band) (Maddy Prior and June Tabor) on their second album ...
The setting shifts from London to 20th century Copenhagen, though the overall sombre mood of the song remains intact. The Hooper/Baez version was performed in English by the Russian folk band Sherwood. The Catalan musicians Roger Mas and Núria Graham performed the song in Catalan as "Jordi" on the album Parnàs (2018).
The ballad was selected for use in the 2017 period film My Cousin Rachel, following a commission for a dark English folk tune to be sung in the film at a Christmas feast for an early-1800s farmstead. [3] A recording of the song features in the credits for the 2014 Channel 4 period drama New Worlds, which is set in England during the 1680s.