Christopher Morley, 6 May 2007, Civic Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon * * * *

... Le Page also had an important part to play in the premiere of Gonzales by Birmingham Conservatoire's new head of composition, Joe Cutler, deftly combining with flute soloist Diane Clark in this engaging piece and we were able to learn from the composer that Gonzales is the latest in a sequence of works which are titled from first or second names, giving some kind of enigmatic character to the music in question.

This 13-minute piece is introduced by a busy string movement, cheeky and jaunty, which places it firmly in the English tradition of music for string orchestra, both Tippett and Britten coming to mind.

Busy violin solos, frequently seen rather than heard, are underpinned by piccolo shrieks, before the introduction of the flute itself, its sequential phrases cut off before they become cliched. And almost echoing the folklorish theme of the evening, there is a hint of Argentinian tango in the music's context.

As the music progresses there are still elements from the soloists which remain more visual than aural, before a starry, glacial ending in which the flute holds a plaintive high note to which the cascading violin resolutely refuses to acquiesce.

Rian Evans, 11 April 2007, Civic Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon

Orchestra of the Swan's commissioning policy is enterprising, and sometimes very imaginative, in the way it garners companion pieces for standard repertoire. Setting them side by side, new energies are often created.
From Joe Cutler, the orchestra had sought a work for solo flute and string ensemble to be heard with music by Vaughan Williams, whose Fantasia on Greensleeves has that scoring. The further specification that this should not be a concerto, yet embrace concertante elements, was a constraint Cutler countered by writing a parallel violin role.

The result, entitled Gonzalez, was curious, a somewhat uneasy compromise. That may also have been due to the imaginary character of Gonzalez, who emerged unbidden during composition, enigmatic and unignorable. In this three-part work, a brief string opening set up shadowy street corners where this dubious character might lurk, but a shrill tritone on violin and piccolo in fact heralded a main section of exuberant Latin American dance rhythms.
Gonzalez was not a villain after all - perhaps just a chancer - and, in the more contemplative final section, reworking Bach harmonies, the feeling of a journey was discernible. This thoughtful, slightly quixotic finale revealed more about Cutler than his character. This premiere, under conductor Nicholas Cleobury, was certainly spirited; suggesting that vibrant flautist Diane Clark should get a full-blown concerto after all.