This last instance is the noted piece, "Sumer is icumen in," found in a MS. in the British Museum, which on internal evidence is thought to date from between 1225 and 1240, and to have emanated from Reading Abbey (35 miles west of London). The principal words celebrate the spring as follows:—
"Sumer is icumen in, Lhude sing cuccu;
Groweth sed and bloweth med, And springth the wode nu;
Awe bleteth after lomb, Lhouth after calve cu;
Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth, Murie sing cuccu.
Wel singes thu cuccu; Ne swik thu naver nu."—
though there are also Latin words—a hymn to the Virgin. The theme
or subject is a flowing and joyous melody, sung in strict imitation (canon
at the unison) by four equal voices entering at intervals of four measures.
The burden swings monotonously back and forth between tonic and dominant
harmony.
The questions raised by this specimen are not readily answered. Its probable date and place are not easily reconciled with its strictly modern scale and form, its secular charm, and its almost flawless part-writing. Perhaps it is a union of ecclesiastical counterpoint with a theme and a style belonging to Trouvère music (see sec. 39).
36. Literature about Music.—While until about 1400 we do
not find much actual composition above the level of experiment,
the amount of literary discussion of music is significant. The
topics most treated are naturally the practical handling of
Plain-Song, the problems of notation and of Mensural Music,
with questions about consonance and the rudiments of counterpoint.
Almost every one of the writers known to us by name
was an ecclesiastic, especially of the Benedictine Order. A
large number of works, however, are anonymous and not
certainly attributable as to either country or exact period.
As will be seen from the following table, the geographical distribution of
the writers that can be identified changes about 1100. Before then the
greater number belong to Germany or parts of France—roughly speaking,
to the valleys of the Rhine and the Rhone. After that time the
greater number are from northern France or England, with Germany
again and finally Italy added in the 14th century. From the 12th century
Spain is more important than the table indicates, since most of the extant
works there are anonymous. A glance at the places indicated will show
what localities were musically most active.
For convenience, all the chief writers up to the appearance of printed books are here included, beginning with the pioneers, some of whom have already been named, and crossing over into the 15th century.
Only a few brief notes can here be made upon the many names in this table.
