Watch the trailer to our newest project ELEMENTS here.

There was a time when nature kept our world in a delicate balance—the changing of the seasons, the pulse of the oceans, the breath of the forests. Natural disasters, from floods to storms, have always accompanied human history, shaping the world in ways beyond our control. Baroque composers reflected the awe and fear these inspired in their music. Yet today, that balance is growing increasingly fragile. The same forces of nature are now more extreme, more violent—pushed to breaking point by humankind.

The Elements  is an immersive concert experience that reflects the wonder of our planet—and the accelerating threat it faces. Music from French opera, including two Baroque compositions, both titled „Les Elements“, by Jean Fery Rebel and Destouches/Delalande, form the foundation of four elemental suites. Interwoven with narration and a new commission by Orlando Gough, as well as evocative video projections, it captures both the splendour and beauty as well as the ferocity and destruction of the planet we live on. From fire and drought to storms and rising seas, this programme reveals our planet on the edge and it asks one all-important question:
What will it take for us to listen?

Programme:

Jean-Fery Rebel (1666 - 1747)
Le Cahos, from: Les Élémens

EARTH

Jean-Fery Rebel (1666 - 1747) 
La Terre et L’Eau, from: Les Elemens 

Andre Cardinal Destouches (1672-1749) & Michel Richard Delalande (1657-1726)
Chaconne, Musette “La Terre”, from: Les Eléments

Orlando Gough (*1953)
Earth

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) 
Sinfonia (Allegro), from: L’Olimpiade, RV 725 

WATER

Andre Cardinal Destouches (1672-1749) & Michel Richard Delalande (1657-1726)
Prélude: L’Eau,  from: ‘Les Eléments’

Jean-Fery Rebel
Air por L’Amour, from: Les Elemens

O. Gough (*1953)
Water

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767)
Hamburger Ebbe und Flut, Gigue

Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665 - 1729)
Tempête, from: Le sommeil d’Ulisse 

Marin Marais (1656 - 1728) 
Tempête, from: Alcione

Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632 - 1687) 
Entrée des Peuples des Climats glacés, from: Isis’

FIRE

Etienne le Moine (1624-1689)
Prelude

Charles Dieupart (1676-1751) 
Sarabande, from: Suite No 3

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Prélude pour l’adoration de soleil, from: Les Indes Galantes 

O. Gough (*1953)
Fire

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714 - 1787) 
Chi Mai dell’Erebo 

Andre Cardinal Destouches & Michel Richard Delalande
Le Feu (Bruit de tempête), from: Les Eléments

Jean-Fery Rebel 
Sicilienne, from: Les Elemens 

Pietro Locatelli (1695 - 1764) 
Lamento, from: Sinfonia Funebre in F Minor

AIR

Jean-Philippe Rameau 
Deuxieme Air pour les Zephirs, from: Les Indes Galantes

Elisabeth de la Guerre
Les Rossignols, from: Recueil d’Airs

Jean-Fery Rebel
Ramage: L’air, from: Les Elémens

Orlando Gough
Air

Jean-Philippe Rameau 
Suite des vents, from: Les Boreades 
Orage, from: Platée 

THE FIFTH ELEMENT

Orlando Gough 
The Fifth Element

Credits

Big Bang Animation01:00:20:0001:00:51:13NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab

Big Bang Animation01:01:14:1201:01:20:01NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab

Webb reveals the Carina Nebula01:02:54:0101:02:56:10NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

Revealing the Milky Way's Center01:02:56:1001:03:01:10NASA, JPL-Caltech, Susan Stolovy (SSCCaltech) et al.

Our Neighbour Andromeda01:03:01:1001:03:05:16NASA JPL-Caltech UCLA

Las Vacas River, Interceptor 00602:10:59:0302:11:03:09The Ocean Cleanup

Las Vacas River, Interceptor 00602:05:31:0402:05:41:02The Ocean Cleanup

Jamaica, Kingston Harbour02:05:57:1602:05:31:14The Ocean Cleanup

Jamaica, Kingston Harbour02:11:03:0902:11:10:19The Ocean Cleanup

1000 Rivers02:08:01:0702:08:04:04The Ocean Cleanup

1000 Rivers02:10:52:1302:10:59:03The Ocean Cleanup

UK Students Protest Inaction on Climate Change02:10:39:0602:10:52:13CC BY 2.0 attrib. DAVID HOLT

Students Protest Climate Change Inaction02:11:10:1902:11:25:05CC BY 3.0 attrib. ANI GUPTA

Fridays 4 Future02:08:51:0602:09:00:03CC BY 2.0 attrib. JOHN ENGLART

EU Climate Change Summit02:08:21:0902:08:35:18© European Union

EU Climate Change Summit02:09:00:0302:09:14:24© European Union

GISS Visualisation02:05:26:0002:05:27:16NASA GISS / Scientific Visualization Studio. Data: NOAA GHCN v4, ERSST v5.

GISS Visualisation02:05:41:0202:05:45:04NASA GISS / Scientific Visualization Studio. Data: NOAA GHCN v4, ERSST v5.

Art and Science of Wildfire01:47:24:2201:47:35:16CC BY 3.0 attrib. National Interagency Fire Center 2009 - uploaded by YouTube user PublicResourceOrg