
1261 Sumer is icumen in
“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 in” or “Summer has arrived”. The song is written in the Wessex dialect of Middle English. Although the composer’s identity is unknown today, it may have been W. de Wycombe. The manuscript in which it is preserved was copied between 1261 and 1264. This rota is the oldest known musical composition featuring six-part polyphony. It is sometimes called the Reading […]