Piano Ensemble Strips: Sumer is icumen in

Piano Ensemble Strips – quick and easy piano ensembles for small to large groups

Each students’ part is a simple, short section of the piece that is repeated over and over. Parts are layered on top of one another, one at a time, creating a full and beautiful piece!

This ensemble works with anywhere from 3-8 pianists and it is at an intermediate level.

Great for group piano classes and camps, this is an easy to put together ensemble with a big sound that helps teach ensemble playing skills. Each strip has one part of the piece containing just four measures. Students layer parts on top of each other, adding one at a time, until all parts are playing. The piece is fully customizable – depending on the number of students and pianos available, you can play this ensemble with just three pianists, or up to eight.

Includes 8 parts, a teacher’s score, and optional cue cards. Includes audio recording of the piece.

Sumer is icumen in is a 13th century Medieval song. This song was written over 800 years ago and is one of the oldest English songs ever written that survives today. It is the first recorded use of six-part polyphony and it is a round. Because it was written in the middle ages, it uses a form of Middle English, so many of the words are recognizable to us but a lot of it doesn’t make sense. Try listening to a recording of this song to see what I mean! You will probably hear what sounds like “summer is coming in – sing cuckoo!” It is a song about summer.

Click here to listen to the ensemble:

Studio-licensed digital PDF download, 11 pages.