Midsummer

• Instruments: a cappella
• Duration: 3:00 minutes
• Difficulty: Low
• Midsummer PDF

Selected performances

For past and scheduled performances, see the “Wheel of the Year” page here.

Midsummer: Original Lyrics

The lyrics are from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act II, Scene I, with the exception of bracketed text (original work).

(Ding dong ding dong, midnight rising)
(Ding dong ding dong, chimes are striking)

Over hill, over dale, (Shadowy trees)
Thorough bush, thorough brier, (Whispering winds)
Over park, over pale, (Evening breeze)
Thorough flood, thorough fire, (Call Fairies in)

I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon’s sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green:
The cow slips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dew drops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear.

(We welcome summer in!)

General information

Midsummer is the seventh movement of the Wheel of the Year song cycle. It was originally published as part of the full cycle in 2004, and subsequently released as an individual work in 2010.

The work has been performed in numerous countries around the world. Significant performances include the premiere by RMIT Occasional Choral Society in 2004 as part of the Young Melbourne Composers concert, and a performance by the Cascade ensemble in France, where the Shakespearean text was translated into French for the occasion.

Midsummer is quick to learn and easy to perform, and an easy performance piece for an ensemble of any size.