
Commissioned by Gamelan Padhang Moncar for the opening concert of the 1999 BEAT Festival, Farr's Beat! for gamelan and three percussionists sees brake drums, roto toms, tom toms, and timpani intermingle with gamelan instruments to create exciting rhythms and waves of rapid fire crescendos.
Gareth Farr is an indisputably colourful figure in New Zealand music. And whether scored for percussion duet or the resources of two large orchestras, Farr's music reflects his personality – bold, brash, or delicate and sensuous, but inevitably, immediately, engaging. Rhythmic elements of his compositions can be linked to the complex and exciting rhythms of Rarotongan log drum ensembles, Balinese gamelan and other percussion music of the Pacific Rim. In addition to his music for the concert chamber, Farr has written music for dance, theatre and television.
