Summer Songs

I couldn't help thinking about summer as I enjoyed a perfectly sunny, breezy day. Here are links/lyrics to performances of two of my favorite summer songs for ensembles.

Sumer is icumen in (performed by the Hilliard Ensemble)

Sumer is i-cumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweth sed,
And bloweth med,
And springeth the wde nu:
Sing cuccu! cuccu!

Awe bleteth after lamb,
Lhouth after calve cu;
Bulluc sterteth,
Bucke verteth,
Murie sing cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu!
Wel singes thu cuccu,
Ne swik thou nauer nu!
Sing cuccu nu!
Sing cuccu!

Wild Mountain Thyme (performed by The Corries)

O the summer time has come
And the trees are sweetly bloomin'
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the bloomin' heather
Will ye go lassie go?

Chorus:
And we'll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the bloomin' heather
Will ye go lassie go?

I will build my love a bower (summerhouse)
By yon cool crystal fountain
And round it I will pile
All the wild flowers o' the mountain
Will ye go lassie go?

(chorus)

I will range through the wilds
And the deep glen sae dreamy
And return wi' their spoils
Tae the bower o' my dearie
Will ye go lassie go?

(chorus)

If my true love she'll not come
Then I'll surely find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the bloomin' heather
Will ye go lassie go?

(chorus)

Snow in May

Well, actually, I do remember a May with an amazing snowfall back in college. The event served as the basis of a friend's stance against living in the Upper Midwest..."No way I'm staying here! We literally had nine months of winter this year. It snowed at the end of September, throughout the fall, winter and spring, and here it is again in May!"

One of our collective favorites on the upcoming series Covers II: A Pop Concert takes advantage of the nostalgia surrounding snowy images and ties them beautifully to summer. If you haven't yet heard White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes, you ought to do so. Then come hear our performance, including collaborators Dave Hagedorn, Lee Blaske, Mark Ilaug and Rikki Davenport.