Ensemble Altera, directed by its founder Christopher Lowrey, presents The Four Elements, a journey through wind, earth, water, fire and, finally, quintessence—the ancient idea of a fifth essence.

Across five chapters, music from the Renaissance to the present explores these forces not as fixed substances but as living metaphors: breath and inspiration, rootedness and belonging, stillness and flow, passion and transformation, and what may lie beyond the material world.

Known for imaginative programming and a warm, focused transatlantic sound, Ensemble Altera brings together music by William Byrd, Charles Villiers Stanford, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen, Owain Park, Rebecca Dale and others. The programme pairs choral landmarks with new commissions and fresh arrangements, including world-premiere recordings of Michael Garrepy’s Flame of Love and Daniel Gledhill’s For the beauty of the earth, winner of Ensemble Altera’s 2021 Composition Competition. The result is a vividly shaped meditation on nature, humanity and imagination, moving from the first breath of wind to the stillness of quintessence.