Cadenza 2025 set piece
The set piece for Cadenza 2025 will be Sumer Is Icumen In, a medieval English round arranged by Brent Stewart.
Cadenza choirs will still present a total of three items in two recitals, with the set piece being one of those four. For the remaining three, choirs may choose to sing all of their regional selections, or may choose any number of new pieces, provided they include at least one Category One piece and at least one Category Two piece. (Note that the set piece cannot be counted towards fulfilling this requirement. Find full regulations here.)
The set piece will also serve as the massed item at the gala concert. There will be no other massed items to learn.
Arranger's notes
This arrangement of Sumer Is Icumen In is designed to be flexible, working equally well with or without the optional piano accompaniment. The optional percussion part can be played freely, with any instrumentation at the discretion of the performers. Choirs could choose to sing in Middle English or Modern English, and are welcome to change any of the text if they wish.
Arranged as a set piece for the New Zealand Choral Federation’s 2025 Cadenza, providing the adjudicator with a consistent work for assessment, independent of repertoire differences. With every participating choir learning the piece for their own recital, the arrangement is also programmed as a massed item and workshop, allowing all singers to arrive prepared and come together as a unified group.
To accommodate different choir needs, multiple keys are available, along with a two-part version. Choirs could even choose to do a mixture of the three and two-part versions.
The massed performance will use the three part version, in modern English, most likely in D major.
About the piece
Dating back over 800 years to the 13th century, Sumer Is Icumen In is one of the oldest known English songs and the earliest surviving example of six-part polyphony. Preserved in a beautifully detailed manuscript (likely from Oxford, c. 1260), the piece is structured as a rota (round). The song welcomes the arrival of spring with vivid imagery of singing cuckoos, blooming meadows, and enthusiastic farm animals... including the first recorded use of the word "fart" in English
literature.
About the arrangement
This arrangement tries to honour the original round, with some sections closely mirroring the original as the round re-enters every two bars. It also introduces moments where voices recycle on the half-bar, creating modern rhythmic and harmonic interplay.
While it may appear complex at first glance, it follows a simple principle: if singers first learn the melody in unison (bars 14–37), they will have effectively learned nearly all the material. The next challenge lies in placing individual voice entries and maintaining ensemble cohesion. Since the opening draws on ideas from later in the piece, I recommend learning bars 14–37 first, followed by 37–54 and 55–84, before covering bars 1–12.
Sumer Is Icumen In remains a joyful, energetic, and timeless piece. I hope this arrangement offers an engaging and rewarding experience for your choir!
— Brent Stewart