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C'était en avril, un dimanche, Oui, [le]1 dimanche ! -- J'étais heureux... Vous aviez une [robe]2 blanche Et deux gentils brins de pervenche, Oui, de pervenche, Dans [les cheveux]3. Nous étions assis sur la mousse, Oui, sur la mousse, Et sans parler, Nous regardions l'herbe qui pousse, [La]4 la feuille verte et l'ombre douce, Oui, l'ombre douce, Et l'eau couler. Un oiseau chantait sur [la]5 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]1 dimanche... T'en souviens-tu ?
C. Chaminade sets stanza 1
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Revue des Deux Mondes, 2e période, tome 49, 1864, page 751.
1 Chaminade, Rachmaninov, Rothschild: "un"2 Rachmaninov, Rothschild: "jolie robe"
3 Rachmaninov, Rothschild: "vos cheveux brins de pervenche"
4 Rachmaninov, Rothschild: "Et la"
5 Rachmaninov, Rothschild: "une"
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- by Ella Georgiyevna Adayevskaya (1846 - 1926), "Chanson du printemps" [ voice and piano ], unpublished ; lost ; misattributed to Musset [sung text not yet checked]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: 97
It was in April, a Sunday, Yes, [Sunday]1; I was happy... You wore a [white]2 dress And two sweet sprigs of periwinkle. Yes, of periwinkle, [In your hair]3. We sat upon the moss Yes, on the moss; And without speaking We looked at the grass that was growing, [The]4 green leaves and the gentle shade, Yes, the gentle shade, And the flowing water. A bird sang upon [the]5 branch, Yes, upon a branch. Then it fell silent. I took in my hand your white hand... It was in April, a Sunday, Yes, [Sunday]1... Do you remember?
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translations of titles
"Chanson du printemps" = "Song of spring"
"T'en souviens-tu ?" = "Do you remember?"
"C'était en avril" = "It was in April"
"Chanson" = "Song"
2 Rachmaninov, Rothschild: "pretty white"
3 Rachmaninov, Rothschild: "In your hair were sprigs of periwinkle"
4 Rachmaninov, Rothschild: "And the"
5 Rachmaninov, Rothschild: "a"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Édouard Jules Henri Pailleron (1834 - 1899), "Chanson", appears in Avril, Chansons et poèmes, first published 1864
This text was added to the website: 2017-01-19
Line count: 21
Word count: 103