C'était en avril un dimanche
Oui, un dimanche, 
J'étais heureux.
Vous aviez une [jolie]1 robe blanche
Et deux gentils brins de pervenche.
Oui, de pervenche;
Dans [vos]2 cheveux [brins de pervenche.

Nous étions assis sur la mousse.
Oui, sur la mousse;
Et sans parler nous regardions l'herbe,
L'herbe qui pousse, et la feuille verte,
Et l'ombre douce, oui, l'ombre douce,
Et l'eau couler.

Un oiseau chantait sur une 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, un dimanche, t'en souviens tu ?]3

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View original text (without footnotes)
¹ omitted by Chaminade.
² Chaminade: "le"
³ omitted by Chaminade

Authorship:

• by Édouard Jules Henri Pailleron (1834 - 1899), "Chanson", appears in Avril, Chansons et poèmes, first published 1864 [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• by Ella Adaïewsky (1846 - 1926), "Chanson du printemps" [ voice and piano ], unpublished ; lost ; misattributed to Musset [sung text not yet checked]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 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Enoch [sung text checked 1 time]
• 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'etait 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.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , copyright © 2017

Research team for this text: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor] , Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2008-06-11
Line count: 19
Word count: 97