by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907)
Translation by Aleksey Nikolayevich Pleshcheyev (1825 - 1893)
Ah! si vous saviez comme on pleure
Language: French (Français)
Our translations: ENG
[Ah! si vous saviez comme on pleure]1 De vivre seul et sans foyers, Quelquefois devant ma demeure Vous passeriez. Si vous saviez ce que fait naître Dans l'âme triste un pur regard, Vous regarderiez ma fenêtre Comme au hazard. Si vous saviez quel baume apporte Au coeur la présence d'un cœur, Vous vous assoiriez sous ma porte Comme une sœur. Si vous saviez que je vous aime, Surtout si vous saviez comment, Vous entreriez peut-être même Tout simplement.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Gallon: "Si vous saviez comme l'on pleure"; further changes may exist not shown above.
Text Authorship:
- by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Prière", written 1872, appears in Les vaines tendresses, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1875 [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 Giulio Alary (1814 - 1891), "Prière" [ medium voice and piano ], from 20 Mélodies, Vol. II, no. 11, Paris, Éd. Durand & Schoenewerk [sung text not yet checked]
- by Salvatore Auteri-Manzocchi (1845 - 1924), "Si vous saviez" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by François Berthet (1873 - 1956), "Si vous saviez", op. 11 no. 4 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Rouart-Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
- by André Devaere (1890 - 1914), "Prière", op. 1 no. 2 [ voice and piano ], from Cinq mélodies, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (François-Clément) Théodore Dubois (1837 - 1924), "Prière", published 1900 [ medium voice and piano ], from Vaines Tendresses, 6 poésies de Sully-Prudhomme, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Simone Féjard (1911 - 2012), "Prière", 1951 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Noël Gallon (1891 - 1966), "Prière", published 1920 [ medium voice and orchestra or piano and violin ], Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "Prière", CG 427 (1876), published 1890 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. H. Lemoine [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Henriette Jacoba van Heukelom-van den Brandeler (1884 - 1985), "Prière" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edmond Hippeau (1849 - 1921), "Si vous saviez", op. 65, published [1909] [ high voice and piano ], Éd. E. Fromont [sung text not yet checked]
- by Raoul Koczalski (1884 - 1948), "Ah! Si vous saviez...", op. 77 (6 Mélodies) no. 6, copyright © 1915 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Albert Lebail , "Prière", published [1917] [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean Mein (1912 - 2001), "Prière", 1936 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. C.Y. Marseille [sung text not yet checked]
- by Napoléon-Henri Reber (1807 - 1880), "Si vous saviez !", <<1878, published [1879] [ medium voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies pour chant et piano - 2ième receuil, no. 14, Paris, Éd. Richault & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alexis Jean Hubert Rostand (1844 - 1919), as Jean Hubert, "Prière" [ medium voice and piano ], from Chants d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, trente deux mélodies, no. 17, Paris, Éd. Heugel & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Giovanni Sgambati (1841 - 1914), "Prière" [ voice and piano ], from Quattro Canti, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Silver (1868 - 1949), "Prière", <<1890 [ voice, violin, and piano ], Paris, Éd. G. Hartmann [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Simon (flourished c1923), "Prière", op. 11 no. 3 (<<1923) [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Maurice Senart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916), "Si vous saviez", published 1913 [ medium voice and piano ], in the revue La Musique, November 23 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Theodor H. H. Verhey (1848 - 1929), "Prière", op. 24 (Deux chansons à 1 voix avec piano) no. 1, published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Brüssel, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803 - 1883), "Les vaines tendresses", 1877 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jeanne Emilie Virginie Vignery (1913 - 1974), as Jane Vignery, "Prière", 1939 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "Prière", published 1888 [ voice and piano ], London: Pitt and Hatzfeld [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eugène Ysaÿe (1858 - 1931), "Si saviez vous", 1882 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Alice Nevin.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Eugen Hildach.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Aleksey Nikolayevich Pleshcheyev (1825 - 1893) , written 1883, first published 1884 ; composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov, Grand Duke of Russia (1858 - 1915) , "Просьба", written 1888 ; composed by Erazm Rafal Dłuski.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Dezső Kosztolányi) , "Könyörgés"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 78
O, esli b znali vy
Language: Russian (Русский) after the French (Français)
O, esli b znali vy, kak mnogo slëz nezrimych Tot l'ët, kto odinok, bez druga i sem'i, - Vy, možet byt', poroj prošli by mimo Žilišča, gde vlačatsja dni moi. O, esli b znali vy, čto serdce, polnom tajnoj Pečali, čistyj vzor sposoben zarodit', -- V moë okno poroj, kak by slučajno, Vy, prochodja, vzgljanuli, možet byt'. O, esli b znali vy, kak serdcu sčast'ja mnogo Darit drugogo serdca blizost', - otdochnut' U moego vy seli by poroga, Kak dobraja sestra, kogda-nibud'. O, esli b znali vy, čto ja ljublju vas, znali, Kak gluboko ljublju, kakim svjatym ognëm Vy s davnich por mne dušu sogrevali, Vy, možet byt', možet byt', ko mne vošli by v dom!
First published in Jezhenedel'noje obozrenije, 1884, no. 1, p. 6
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
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Text Authorship:
- by Aleksey Nikolayevich Pleshcheyev (1825 - 1893), written 1883, first published 1884 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Prière", written 1872, appears in Les vaines tendresses, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1875
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893), "О, если б знали вы", op. 60 (Двенадцать романсов = Dvenadcat' romansov (Twelve romances) = Zwölf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebleitung) no. 3 (1886) [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 113