Riscritture di Sumer Is Icumen In nella cultura di massa del Novecento

Abstract

This paper discusses the twentieth-century rewrites of the Early Middle English rota 'Sumer Is Icumen In' (London, British Library, MS Harley 978, f.11v, XIII sec.). In the last century, the diffusion of 'Sumer Is Icumen' In followed two main directions: an ‘antiquarian’ usage, referred to the manuscript’s text and melody, and a ‘popular’ usage, which was influenced by mass culture, and is the object of the present study. Through the work of Latouche and Duke, 'Sumer Is Icumen In' was reworked into an Off-Broadway musical tune; Nat ‘King’ Cole’s song, composed by Wilder and Barer, has become a jazz standard. Both these compositions retain a textual connection with the medieval lyric