Île de Ré begins with guitar five playing flowing, arpeggio figures against block chords in the other parts. The harmonies are delightful and immediately attractive but I felt that the part writing, which followed was too heavily marked.(.) Still, I always prefer to have the composer's thoughts, as that is the only way to learn what was in his head as he conceived the piece. The music moves to a beautifully scored dolce e legato, which maintains the sense of improvisation, which has been the main characteristic of the music so far. The following section balances some quite stark intervals over almost gentle harmonies - most effective. The end is well crafted. Some of this piece sounds deceptively simple but the simplicity is used to give character and shape to the music.
The piece is well written, instantly attractive and definitely one to keep in the 'those to play' file.
(John Arran, Classical Guitar Magazine)
