Farr's third work for string quartet, Frenzy is a high-energy piece with a strong emphasis on rhythm, jaunty phrasings and gritty harmonies. As its name suggests, it is somewhat crazed in character. Structured in a rondo-variation form, the listener is allowed to get accustomed to the subject before being taken somewhere completely different. The subject is revisited periodically, each time with a new undiscovered facet, an unexplored perspective. There is a great deal of contrast between the deployment of the quartet as one instrument or one mind, and the treatment of the four players as soloists, each asserting their own personalities.
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.
