Music is found in every culture around the world and has existed for at least 55,000 years.
Although musical compositions may have existed this far back in human history, the earliest written songs only date back to over 3,000 years ago.
Special Edition:
The Lumina Vocal Ensemble performs -Sumer Is Icumen In:
"Sumer Is Icumen In" is a traditional English medieval round, and possibly the oldest.
The title might be translated as "Summer has come in" or "Summer has arrived".
The round is sometimes known as the Reading rota because the manuscript comes from Reading Abbey though it may not have been written there.
It is the oldest piece of a six-part polyphonic music (Albright, 1994).
Its composer is anonymous, possibly W. de Wycombe, and it is estimated to date from around 1260.
The manuscript is now at the British Library.
The language is Middle English, more exactly Wessex dialect.
—
Middle English:
Sumer is icumen in
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweþ sed and bloweþ med
And springþ þe wde nu, Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteþ after lomb
Lhouþ after calue cu
Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ
Murie sing cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes þu cuccu
Ne swik þu nauer nu
Pes: Sing cuccu nu
Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu
Sing cuccu nu!
—
Modern English:
Summer has arrived
Loudly sing, Cuckoo!
The seed grows and the meadow blooms
And the wood springs anew
Sing, Cuckoo!
The ewe bleats after the lamb
The cow lows after the calf
The bullock stirs, the stag farts
Merrily sing, Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, Cuckoo, well you sing, Cuckoo
Don't ever you stop now
Sing Cuckoo now.
Sing, Cuckoo. Sing Cuckoo
Sing cuckoo now!
Sumer Is Icumen In (1260 AD)