Les quatre élémens

Les quatre éléments (The Four Elements), is a cycle of four choral pieces by Franz Liszt, to words by Joseph Autran. The cycle was composed in 1844/5; the numbers of the pieces in the Liszt catalogue of Humphrey Searle are S.80a and S.80b (two versions). The title of the cycle was an allusion to the Ancient Greek concept of the four elements - earth, air, water and fire. Liszt also composed an overture for the cycle. Some of the music from the overture and the cycle was later reworked in Liszt's symphonic poem Les préludes (The preludes), which was premiered in 1854.

Liszt's starting-point for the cycle was Les aquilons ("The North Winds"), a male chorus with piano accompaniment, composed on July 24, 1844, in Marseille. Liszt had arrived in Marseille on July 23, 1844. He met with choristers of a German travelling company, who requested an original chorus piece of the composer. The poet Joseph Autran, whom Liszt had visited, offered him the poem Les aquilons. In the afternoon of July 24 Liszt composed the piece. The work was performed on August 6 at Liszt's fourth concert in Marseille. The accompaniment was on two pianos, one played by Liszt himself.

Besides Les aquilons, Autran gave three further poems to Liszt. They were La terre ("The Earth"), Les flots ("The Floods") and Les astres ("The stars"). Liszt also set these poems. As a series, La terre, Les aquilons, Les flots and Les astres formed a cycle Les quatre éléments ("The Four Elements"). The title of the cycle was an allusion to the old Greek elements earth, air, water and fire.

La terre and Les flots were composed in spring 1845 during Liszt's tour through Spain and Portugal. However, the precise dates are still not clear. The four pieces Les quatre élémens were never published, and the only performance given was that of Les Aquilons on August 6, 1844. The manuscripts are preserved in the Goethe- und Schiller-Archiv in Weimar. Their catalogue number is S80. For the manuscripts of La terre and Les flots, Emil Haraszti and Theodor Müller-Reuter give the dates "Lisbon and Málaga, April 1845" and "Valencia, Easter Sunday 1845".

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