C'était en avril, un dimanche, Oui, le dimanche ! -- J'étais heureux... Vous aviez une robe blanche Et deux gentils brins de pervenche, Oui, de pervenche, Dans les cheveux. Nous étions assis sur la mousse, Oui, sur la mousse, Et sans parler, Nous regardions l'herbe qui pousse, La la feuille verte et l'ombre douce, Oui, l'ombre douce, Et l'eau couler. Un oiseau chantait sur la branche, Oui, sur la branche, Puis il s'est tu. J'ai pris dans ma main ta main blanche... C'était en avril, un dimanche, Oui, le dimanche... T'en souviens-tu ?
C. Chaminade sets stanza 1
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Revue des Deux Mondes, 2e période, tome 49, 1864, page 751.
Text Authorship:
- by Édouard Jules Henri Pailleron (1834 - 1899), "Chanson", appears in Avril, Chansons et poèmes, first published 1864 [author's text checked 1 time 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- by Ella Georgiyevna Adayevskaya (1846 - 1926), "Chanson du printemps" [ voice and piano ], unpublished ; lost ; misattributed to Musset [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alfredo-Antonio-Maria Barbirolli (1871 - 1931), "T’en souviens-tu ?" [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Hachette [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cécile Chaminade (1857 - 1944), "C'était en avril", published 1900, stanza 1 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Enoch [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alexandrina Esterházy-Rossi (1844 - 1919), "T'en souviens-tu ?", published 1899 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: Hofbauer [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Jean Baptiste Grisart (1837 - 1904), "Chanson", published [1898] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Henri Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jan Kleczyński (1837 - 1895), "T'en souviens-tu ?", published 1870 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. G. Flaxland [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sergei Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943), "C'était en avril", 1891, published 1947 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Mathilde, Baroness Willy de Rothschild (1832 - 1924), "C'était en avril" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by James Freeman Clarke (1810 - 1888) , "A reminiscence" ; composed by Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , copyright © 2025
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Veronika Mikhailovna Tushnova)
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor] , Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-11
Line count: 21
Word count: 91
'Twas April; 'twas Sunday: the day was fair, -- Yes! sunny and fair. And how happy was I! You wore the white dress you loved to wear; And two little flowers were hid in your hair -- Yes; in your hair, -- On that day -- gone by! We sat on the moss: it was shady and dry, -- Yes! shady and dry; And we sat in the shadow, We looked at the leaves, we looked at the sky, We looked at the brook which bubbled near by, -- Yes! bubbled near by, Through the quiet meadow. A bird sang on the swinging vine, -- Yes! on the vine, -- And then, -- sang not; I took your little white hand in mine; 'Twas April, 'twas Sunday; 'twas warm sunshine, -- Yes! warm sunshine: Have you forgot?
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Exotics: Attempts to Domesticate Them, by J. F. C. (James Freeman Clarke) and L. C., Boston, James R. Osgood and Company, 1875, page 64. Note: some sources for the Nevin song give the author as "James Freeman Clark".
Text Authorship:
- by James Freeman Clarke (1810 - 1888), "A reminiscence" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Édouard Jules Henri Pailleron (1834 - 1899), "Chanson", appears in Avril, Chansons et poèmes, first published 1864
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin (1862 - 1901), "'Twas April!", op. 5 (Five songs) no. 3, published 1889 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-13
Line count: 21
Word count: 127