Before the cinema | And then this evening we will go

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Avant le Cinéma

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG ENG

Et puis ce soir on s'en ira 
Au cinéma

Les Artistes que sont-ce donc
Ce ne sont plus ceux qui cultivent les Beaux-arts
Ce ne sont pas ceux qui s'occupent de l'Art
Art poétique ou bien musique
Les Artistes ce sont les acteurs et les actrices
Si nous étions des Artistes
Nous ne dirions pas le cinéma
Nous dirions le ciné

Mais si nous étions de vieux professeurs de province
Nous ne dirions ni ciné ni cinéma
Mais cinématographe

Aussi mon Dieu faut-il avoir du goût.

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Avant le cinéma", written 1917, appears in Il y a, Paris, Éd. Messein, first published 1925 [author's text not yet checked 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 Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Avant le Cinéma", FP 58 no. 3 (1931) [ medium voice and piano ], from Quatre Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Derek Welton) , "Before the cinema", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Before the cinema", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 86

Before the cinema

Language: English after the French (Français)

And then this evening we will go 
To the cinema

The Artists, what kind are they?
They are no longer those who cultivate the Fine Arts
They are no longer those who deal in art
Poetic art or fine music
The Artists are the actors and actresses
If we were the Artists
We would not say "the cinema”
We would say "le ciné"

But if we were old provincial professors
We would say neither “ciné” nor “cinema"
But cinematography

Well my goodness, we must have good taste!

Translator's notes: The word cinématograph was first used in 1892, but the shorter cinéma and ciné did not appear until 1900 and 1910 respectively. In order to sound “provincial,” one should roll the “r” with gusto in the French word.

This song was dedicated to Olga Khoklova, AKA the first Mrs. Pablo Picasso (1891-1955), who was a Russian ballet dancer.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Prichard, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Avant le cinéma", written 1917, appears in Il y a, Paris, Éd. Messein, first published 1925
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-04-10
Line count: 14
Word count: 87