Commissioned by mixed community-based choir The Glamaphones in celebration of 30 years of homosexual law reform in New Zealand, Farr's During These Days is a setting of two powerful poems by Philip Patston and Brent Coutts that capture New Zealand's cultural climate regarding homosexuality in the years preceding the reform. The work's somber tone offers a reminder of the hurt that was done, and that helpless and desperate times are an integral part of any political struggle, but its bottom line is that love conquers all.
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.
