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Les anges les anges dans le ciel
L’un est vêtu en officier
L’un est vêtu en cuisinier
Et les autres chantent
Bel officier couleur du ciel
Le doux printemps longtemps après Noël
Te médaillera d’un beau soleil
D’un beau soleil
Le cuisinier plume les oies
Ah ! tombe neige
Tombe et que n’ai-je
Ma bien-aimée entre mes bras
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Guillaume Apollinaire, Alcools: poèmes 1898-2013, Paris: Gallimard, 1920, Page 65.
Text Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "La blanche neige", written 1911, appears in Alcools, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1913 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Robert Caby (1905 - 1992), "La blanche neige", 1945 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Ledent , "La blanche neige", op. 9 no. 1 (1933) [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bohuslav Martinů (1890 - 1959), "La neige blanche", H 197 no. 1 (1930), first performed 1931 [ voice and piano ], from Trois Mélodies, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "La blanche neige", FP. 81 no. 1 [ chorus ], from Sept chansons, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gabriel Rigaux (b. 1982), "La blanche neige", 2017 [ baritone and piano ], from Apollinaire, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Denise Isabelle Roger (1924 - 2005), "La Blanche neige", 1962 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 57
Angels, angels in the sky. One is dressed as an officer, one is dressed as a cook, and the others are singing. Oh handsome sky-coloured officer, the sweet springtime long after Christmas will give you a medal: a beautiful sun. The cook is plucking geese. Ah! let the snow fall and fall, and if only I held my beloved in my arms!
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "La blanche neige" = "White snow"Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Peter Low, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "La blanche neige", written 1911, appears in Alcools, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1913
This text was added to the website: 2023-08-22
Line count: 12
Word count: 62