Rivers Fourth Window & Sarah Latto

• John Barber: The Voice of My Beloved:
• 1 Barber: The Voice of My Beloved 05:47
• Julia
• 2 Barber: Julia 02:46
• My River:
• 3 Barber: My River 04:17
• Lullaby:
• 4 Barber: Lullaby 03:57
• Love is as Strong as Death:
• 5 Barber: Love is as Strong as Death 05:31
• Total Runtime 22:18

Info for Rivers

Rivers is the second EP from composer John Barber and Fourth Window vocal ensemble. Over its five tracks conductor Sarah Latto and 8 acapella voices tell five different love stories- spiritual, romantic and parental. Julia, setting text by Robert Herrick, imagines a lover heading to a magical late night rendezvous; My River – written for John’s son just after he was born – uses text by Emily Dickinson to create a modern day spiritual of hope and gratitude. In Lullaby, a mother sings her baby to sleep whilst her partner is at war. The EP is bookended by The Voice Of My Beloved and Love Is As Strong As Death – setting timeless text from the Song of Songs.

Fourth Window
Sarah Latto, conductor

Sarah Latto
is conductor and co-artistic director of Echo Vocal Ensemble. Described as "sparkling, poised and powerful", the group made its debut in 2017, and have since performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, as Ensemble-in-Residence at Ryedale Festival and live on BBC Radio 3. The group has quickly developed a reputation for imaginative programming and multi-disciplinary collaborations, including with poet Roger McGough, composer James MacMillan, visual artist Polly Apfelbaum and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sarah studied music at Cambridge University, where she held a choral scholarship with Sidney Sussex College. Her professional training has included working with the Brighton Early Music Festival and a Fellowship with Yale University. Sarah was also appointed Conducting Scholar with the prestigious young artists scheme Genesis Sixteen, and in 2019 became Ex Cathedra's inaugural Associate Conductor. As a freelance conductor, Sarah has worked with the opera company ERRATICA, with Trinity Laban Chamber Choir and with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. Sarah makes her debut with the BBC Singers in 2024.

"Sarah Latto was billed as “conductor” but was actually so much more: she ran the show with an enjoyable informality, a relaxed looseness that drew the audience in. Her conducting was excellent, her speaking between items well-judged, and she had the confidence to do some things other conductors might shy away from: to not conduct when she didn’t see the need, to join in singing herself, to have another member of the group conduct an item.... It was all completely admirable and speaks to a well-justified musical self-assurance." - The Arts Desk, 2022

John Barber
is a composer from Bristol with a passion for voices, collaboration and storytelling.

His versatile, rhythmic and intensely dramatic music has been performed by some of the UK and Europe’s leading opera houses, theatres, ensembles and choirs including the Royal Opera House, Gothenburg Opera, BBC Symphony Orchestra and The Sixteen.

He has written several operas and large-scale vocal pieces, including We Are Shadows (Spitalfields Music), Mighty Oaks (Royal Opera House), Consider the Lilies - based on the stories of refugees in the UK and Seven Seeds - a major retelling of the persephone myth featuring 1500 singers, full orchestra and soloists.

John’s music has been recognised with various awards including a British Composer Award and two Royal Philharmonic Society awards. He has just been awarded a prestigious Arts Foundation Fellowship for his choral music. Recent projects include The Selfish Giant for Garsington Opera and Opera North, Existence - a major new commission for the Arctic Light Choir/Gothenburg Opera Youth Choir and Joy! - a reflection of the Ode to Joy for the massed voices of the Dartington International Summer School. The first of 2 EPs of his vocal music were released by Signum Classics in September 2024.

Working collaboratively with people of all ages and abilities to make high quality and rewarding work is central to John’s musical life. He has devised and led collaborative projects all over the world and has worked in schools, care homes, prisons, pupil referal units and even a post-natal ward! He was a co-founder of Woven Gold - a choir made up of refugees and asylum-seekers who work with London-based musicians - who continue to thrive after almost 15 years of singing together.

John performs and records with pop experimentalists Firefly Burning who released their third album, Breathe Shallow, in 2019.

This album contains no booklet.