Sumer Is Icumen In

"Sumer Is Icumen In" is a medieval English rota of the mid-13th century.

The title translates approximately to "Summer Has Come In" or "Summer Has Arrived". The song is composed in the Wessex dialect of Middle English. Although the composer's identity is unknown today, it may have been W. de Wycombe. The year of composition is estimated to be ca. 1260.

This rota is the oldest known musical composition featuring six-part polyphony (Albright, 1994), and is possibly the oldest surviving example of counterpoint.

It is sometimes called the Reading Rota because the earliest known copy of the composition, a manuscript written in mensural notation, was found at Reading Abbey; it was probably not drafted there, however. The British Library now retains this manuscript.

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Famous quotes containing the words sumer is icumen, sumer is:

    Sumer is icumen in,
    Lhude sing cuccu!
    Groweth sed, and bloweth med,
    And springth the wude nu--
    Sing cuccu!
    Anonymous. Cuckoo Song (c. 1250)

    Sumer is icumen in,
    Lhude sing cuccu;
    —Unknown. Summer Is Icumen In (l. 1–2)