In their latest album, Ensemble Altera journeys through wind, earth, water, fire, and 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. The program pairs choral landmarks with new commissions and fresh arrangements, including music by William Byrd, Charles Villiers Stanford, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen, Owain Park, and Rebecca Dale, as well as world-premiere recordings of music by Michael Garrepy and Daniel Gledhill, winner of Ensemble Altera’s 2021 Composition Competition. Directed by its founder Christopher Lowrey, the fully professional chamber choir is known for imaginative programming and a warm, focused transatlantic sound. The Four Elements has already been hailed as BBC Music Magazine‘s 2026 Choral Choice, “Nature’s variety captured in sensuous songs. Ensemble Altera’s superior singing brings the elements to life.