Les élémens

For the French chamber choir, see Les Éléments.

Not to be confused with Les Élémens (Rebel).

Les Élémens (The Elements), or Ballet des élémens, is an opéra-ballet by the French composers André Cardinal Destouches and Michel Richard Delalande (or de Lalande). It has a prologue and four entrées (as well as, originally, a celebratory epilogue later removed). The libretto was written by Pierre-Charles Roy. It was styled "the third ballet danced by the king" because the 11-year-old Louis XV performed dance divertissements in it, as he had already done in the previous ballets, L'inconnu by various authors (including Delalande and Destouches), and Les folies de Cardenio by Delalande, both staged at court in 1720.

Title page of the 1725 libretto
(Recueil général des opéra, 1734)^[1]

Composition

Destouches was responsible for most of the music. It has never been ascertained how much each composer contributed to the composition. In a 1726 letter, Destouches wrote to Antonio I, Prince of Monaco: "We were ordered to work in partnership; he [Delalande] wrote very fine things whose details I implore you to spare me, for he demanded of me that we be covered by the same cloak".^[2] Delalande probably wrote the overture, much of the prologue and some parts of the first entrée. Jean Balon provided the choreography.^[3]

Les Élémens has the typical structure of the opéra-ballet: its four entrées are musically and dramatically independent, but topically related to one another.^[3] Its subject matter, however – gods, heroes and ancient Romans – relates it more to the special type of opéra-ballet called "ballet-héroïque".^[4]

Performance history

The opera was first performed at the Tuileries, Paris on 31 December 1721, with the 11-year-old Louis XV participating in the dancing.^[5] The king was quite bored with it and it did not meet with general appreciation. It was, however, revived four times at court in the next two months. According to Destouches himself, "at its first appearance this ballet was by no means the success we hoped for. It was found to be long; it seemed to be too serious; it was danced by noble youths whose talents were not up to the highest standards. Which caused very unpleasant boredom that was most humiliating for the authors".^[6]

After being extensively rearranged (all the parts featuring the King were for instance removed), on 29 May 1725 the ballet was revived before the general public by the Paris Opera at the Palais-Royal theatre.^[3] It met thereafter with increasing success, the degree of which "may be gauged by the fact that it remained in the repertory for more than 50 years and was revived in 1727, 1734, 1742, 1767, 1771, 1776, 1778, and 1780", and that it inspired "three parodies: Momus exilé (1725) at the Théâtre des Italiens; Le chaos (1725) at the same theatre; Il était temps (1754) at the Saint-Laurent fair".^[7] The prologue and two entrées ("Air" and "Fire") were also revived at Madame de Pompadour's Théâtre des Petits Appartements, on the Grand Escalier des Ambassadeurs in the Palace of Versailles, on 23 December 1748 and 9 January 1749, with Madame de Pompadour herself performing the role of Emilie. In a further revival of the entrée of the "Earth" on next 15 January she also performed the role of Pomone.^[8]

Les Élémens was Destouches's most successful work, and his master Delalande's only stage work to appear at the Paris Opéra. At court it "marked the end of several eras: it was Lalande's final stage work, Louis XV's last stage appearance and the final French court ballet".^[3]

There was a modern revival at the Opéra Royal de Versailles on 7 October 2001 under Jérôme Corréas, with Isabelle Poulenard, Françoise Masset, Jean-François Lombard, Matthieu Lecroart, and Renaud Delaigue.^[8]

Roles

Role	Voice type	Cast of premiere (according to the original libretto) (31 December 1721)	Cast of Palais-Royal revival (according to the original libretto) (29 May 1725)
Conductor		Jean-Féry Rebel
Prologue: "Chaos" (Le Chaos)
Destiny	basse-taille (bass-baritone)	Gabriel-Vincent Thévenard	Gabriel-Vincent Thévenard
Vénus	soprano	Marie-Gabrielle Lizarde	Mlle Lambert
A Grace	soprano		Mlle Mignier
First entrée: "Air" (l'Air)
Junon	soprano	Marie Antier	Marie Antier
Ixion	basse-taille	Gabriel-Vincent Thévenard	Gabriel-Vincent Thévenard
Jupiter	basse-taille	Justin Destouches du Bourg (Dubourg)	Claude-Louis-Dominique Chassé de Chinais
Mercure	haute-contre	Louis Murayre (Muraire)	Denis-François Tribou
A Hora	soprano		Mlle Mignier
Second entrée: "Water" (l'Eau)
Leucosie	soprano	Mlle Erémans (Erremans, Hermance)	Mlle Erémans
Doris	soprano	Mlle Souris "l’Aînée" (the elder)	Mlle Souris "l’Aînée" (the elder)
Arion	haute-contre	Antoine Boutelou[9]	Louis Murayre
Neptune	basse-taille	Justin Destouches du Bourg	Justin Destouches du Bourg
a triton	basse taille	Dun fils
Third entrée: "Fire" (le Feu)
Émilie	soprano	Marie Antier	Marie Antier
Valère	basse-taille	Gabriel-Vincent Thévenard	Gabriel-Vincent Thévenard
L'Amour	soprano	Cathérine-Nicole Le Maure (Lemaure)	Mlle Dun
Fourth entrée: "Earth" (la Terre)
Pomone	soprano	Marie Antier	Cathérine-Nicole Le Maure
Vertumne	haute-contre	Antoine Boutelou[9]	Louis Murayre
Plutus	haute-contre	Louis Murayre
Pan	basse-taille	Dun fils	Claude-Louis-Dominique Chassé de Chinais
Two sheperdesses (but one in the 1725 version)	soprano(s)	Mlles Constance and Catin	Mlle Mignier
Epilogue (only in the first version)
Pomone	soprano	Marie Antier
A Nymph from Pomone's retinu	soprano	Mlle de S. Estienne

Synopsis

The following synopsis is based on Pitou (1985).

Prologue: Chaos

After Destiny makes the elements replace chaos, Venus complains about her exclusion from the undertaking, Destiny mollifies her by showing her future son, Louis XV,^[10] who is celebrated by a chorus and is committed to the elements' favour.

In the 1721 version, the king in person appeared in the prologue performing the dance divertissement along with twelve other young noble courtiers.

1st entrée: Air

Aroused by Mercure to be less aloof, Ixion refuses Junon's order to spy upon unfaithful Jupiter's movements and instead declares his love for her. This provokes a terrible fit of anger on her part. As a punishment, Jupiter will consign him to the depths of Hades.

2nd entrée: Water

After refusing to marry Eole on account of his bad temper, and because she already loves a stranger from afar, Leucosie welcomes Arion, the stranger she loves, who has arrived on the back of a dolphin, to Neptune's palace. Arion too falls in love with Leucosie. Neptune recognizes him as his own son and orders his marriage to Leucosie.

3rd entrée: Fire

This entrée is set in the vestibule of the temple of Vesta, where the priestess Emilie attends to the goddess's fire for the last time, having received permission to marry Valère. When Valère comes to the temple, Emilie tells him that she had a nightmare in which Vesta had appeared with a great crash, mad with rage, and had struck him dead by lightning. While Valère is trying to reassure her, the temple plunges into darkness, as the sacred fire has gone out: Emilie takes the blame for neglecting it and refuses to flee with her lover, bravely willing to face her deadly punishment. However, Cupid appears over a cloud, relights the sacred fire and blesses the wedding of his two followers.

4th entrée: Earth

Pomone seems to disregard love, so Vertumne, who is in love with her, disguises himself as a woman, Nérine, in order to be allowed to approach her. In this disguise, Vertumne witnesses Pomone rejecting Pan's approaches, and then is made aware by her of her secret love for him. He reveals himself and the entrée ends in a ballet and chorus celebrating Love.

Epilogue

The 1721 first version also included an 'Epilogue' that again presented on stage the king and the twelve young courtiers who had danced with him in the 'Prologue', as well as four other high noblemen each flanked by a ballerina: they were to symbolize the Sun advancing in his chariot, surrounded by the signs of the zodiac and followed by the four continents. The opera concluded in jubilation with Pomone and a follower of hers – accompanied by the general chorus of all the other performers – hymning the praises of the Sun and Louis XV at the same time.

Recordings

Excerpts from the work have been recorded by:

• the Academy of Ancient Music, conducted by Christopher Hogwood, Decca (L'Oiseau-Lyre) 475 9100 (CD).^[11] 2008 (recorded 1978).
• the Ensemble Les Surprises, conducted by Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas, Ambronay AMY046 (CD)^[12] 2018

References

Notes

1. Recueil général des opéra, représentez par l'Académie Royale de Musique, depuis son établissement, 13th volume, Paris, Ballard, 1734
2. Brenac (2010). "On nous ordonna de travailler ensemble ; il (Delalande) y a fait de très-belles choses du détail desquelles je vous supplie de me dispenser, parce qu'il a exigé de moi que nous fussions couverts du même manteau." (in French)
3. Coeyman (1997).
4. Bartlet (1997).
5. Sources are inconsistent regarding the early history of this opera. According to Pitou (1985) and Casaglia, the première took place on 22 December 1721, but Casaglia states that the first revival at the Palais-Royal took place on 31 December, whereas Pitou gives it as 29 May 1725, adding that the opera "appears to have run until the end of August when it was finally offered to the public". Coeyman (1997) dates the première at 31 December 1721 and the first Palais-Royal revival at 29 May 1725, but refers also to an undefined earlier revival at court ("it played only twice at court"). Lionel Sawkins, however, has eventually ascertained that the rehearsal began at the Tuileries on 1 December 1721 and the premiere, initially scheduled for 22 December, was at first postponed until after Christmas and finally held the last day of the year. Sawkins also reports that 'The Gazette' mentioned three additional performances at court on 17 and 21 January and 7 February 1722 (Les Elémens (S153)). In a later publication Sawkins also adds a fourth date, 7 January 1722 (id., with the assistance of John Nightingale, A Thematic Catalogue of the Works of Michel-Richard de Lalande (1657–1726), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 575, ISBN 978-0-19-816360-2). The dates of the premiere and the revivals stated by Brenac (2010) exactly tally with Sawkins's.
6. Quoted by Sawkins (Les Elémens (S153), p. 61).
7. Pitou (1985).
8. Brenac (2010).
9. The original libretto only reports this performer's surname, Boutelou, but he should almost certainly be the youngest member of the family of singers, Antoine. His father Jean and his older brother Marin had been members of the company of the Académie Royale de Musique during the two decades around the turn of the century. Antoine was instead a tenor at the Chapelle royale and, as such, he was not supposed to be involved in the Académie's public performances, but was evidently called upon on occasions to perform in court musical entertainments, as were the 'ballets du roy'. The information about the nomenclature of the Boutelou family, a traditionally confusing topic, is drawn from the Dictionnaire de l'Opéra de Paris sous l'Ancien Régime (1669–1791) (edition directors: Sylvie Bouissou, Pascal Denécheau, and France Marchal-Ninosque), Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2019, tome I (A-C), ad nomina , ISBN 978-2406090656 (in French).
10. Or, in later performances, a statue of the king (Sawkins, op. cit., p. 61 Archived 14 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine).
11. Wilcox (Opera Today).
12. Richard Lawrence, Gramophone (reviews).

Sources

• (in French) Original librettos:
  • (1721) Les Élémens, Troisième Ballet Dansé par le Roy, Dans son Palais des Tuilleries, le Mercredy 31 Decembre 1721, Paris, Ballard, 1721 (accessibie for free online at Gallica – B.N.F.)
  • (1725) Les Élémens, Ballet, Dansé par le Roy, Dans son Palais des Thuilleries, le 22 Decembre 1721, Réprésenté par l'Académie Royale de Musique le 15 May 1725, Paris, Ribou, 1725 (accessibie for free online at Gallica – B.N.F.)
• Brenac, Jean-Claude (8 May 2010). "Les Eléments". Le magazine de l'opéra baroque (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2011.
• Bartlet, M. Elizabeth. C. (1997). Ballet-héroïque, in Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997 (ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2), I, p. 294.
• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."Les éléments". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
• Coeyman, Barbara (1997). Élémens, Les, in Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997 (ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2), II, p. 35.
• Pitou, Spire (1983). Antier, Marie in The Paris Opéra. An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers – Genesis and Glory, 1671–1715, p. 156. Greenwood Press, Westport/London, 1983 (ISBN 0-313-21420-4)
• Pitou, Spire (1985). Les Eléments in The Paris Opéra – An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers – Rococo and Romantic 1715–1815, pp. 183–84. Greenwood Press, Westport (Connecticut), 1985 (ISBN 0-313-24394-8)
• (in French) Sawkins, Lionel (2001). Les Elémens (S153), in Michel-Richard de Lalande (1657–1726), Versailles, Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles; Établissement Public du musée et domaine national de Versailles, 2001, p. 59-65
• Wilcox, Beverly. "Opera Today : Les Élémens". Opera Today. Retrieved 28 May 2011.