Les Eléments (or Les Elémens, both spellings were used at the time) is an opera-ballet composed four-handed by Michel-Richard de Lalande and André Cardinal Destouches. Created in 1721, the young Louis XV danced in it. The work met with great success and became one of the most widely performed of its time.

After Fate has set the scene and a chorus celebrates the order and peace of the universe, Venus appears, lamenting the absence of Love. Destiny reassures her by showing her future son Louis XV (who, it should be remembered, is present on stage in person).

Subsequently, four entries illustrate air, water, fire and earth in turn, with the authors summarizing the sequence as follows: « Air offers the tragic event of Ixion and his love for Juno, who presides over this element. Water is characterized by Arion’s shipwreck, his reception by Neptune […] and his marriage to a Syrene. Elemental fire could only be that of the vestals, ignited by the sun’s rays. The earth brings together all the gods who inhabit or cultivate it ».

To complete this program, we have chosen four pieces in four different languages (French, English, Italian and German), metaphorically illustrating the four elements: unhappy lovers who lack air in the face of such pain, exalted lovers consumed by their inner fire, nourishing earth, fertilized by the tears of those who are exiled (Psalm 126), and finally, an ode by Pierre de Ronsard uniting earth, water and sun.