Pint-sized yet power-packed, Farr's Fifty Fifty for solo bongos was composed at the request of Dame Evelyn Glennie as part of her 50 for 50 project. Farr injects a range of playing techniques into this 50-bar work - drumsticks and a mini maraca come into play alongside more conventional hand and finger work in articulating rapid-fire passages that twitch with tumbling accents. Rhythmic subversion even dominates the more spacious snatches of time, making this work an enjoyable challenge for accomplished percussionists.
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.
