Le Destin du Nouveau Siècle is an unpublished score by Campra since the 18th century. This opera-ballet, created in 1700 at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, was meant to serve as an interlude to a Latin tragedy and was intended to be prophetic of the century that was unfolding in France, where Louis XIV had been king for… fifty-seven years! It depicts a dialogue between peoples supporting either War or Peace, each side being supported and encouraged by a god, Mars or Vulcan, or by the very allegory of Peace itself. Saturn, as the God who presides over time, prepares to give the world a new century. He invites the Fates to determine its destiny according to the will of the people, but some wish to ignite a war that lasts forever, while others proclaim the name of Peace far and wide… When we know that by the end of 1700, Louis XIV’s grandson became Philip V, King of Spain, initially bringing joy due to a peace finally achieved between the two great enemy states, yet sparking the powder keg of European balance that would lead to the War of Spanish Succession for fifteen years, we understand the mixture of concern and hope at the dawn of this new century…