Abans del cinema | I després aquesta nit anirem

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

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

Translation © by Salvador Pila

Avant le Cinéma

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT 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):

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Abans del cinema", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Derek Welton) , "Before the cinema", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Laura Stanfield 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

Abans del cinema

Language: Catalan (Català) after the French (Français)

I després aquesta nit anirem
Al cinema

Què són, doncs, els Artistes?
Ja no són aquells que practiquen les Belles Arts
No són aquells que tracten amb l'Art
Ja sigui poesia o música
Els Artistes són els actors i les actrius
Si fóssim Artistes
No diríem «cinema»
Diríem «el cine»

Però si fóssim vells mestres de província 
No diríem ni «cine» ni «cinema»
Sinó «cinematògraf»

Així que, Déu meu, cal tenir bon gust.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2026 by Salvador Pila, (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: 2026-05-23
Line count: 14
Word count: 73