Nga Tai Hurihuri (The Changing Tides) was a commission by the New Zealand arm of Accenture to commemorate its re-branding. The brief for the commission was to create a work expressing renewal through the new ways of doing things working in partnership with the old. The work was written especially for the operatic soprano voice of Deborah Wai Kapohe and kaikaranga Aroha Priest - the soprano metaphorically representing the new ways and the kaikaranga representing the old. As well as including solo marimba, maracas, bongos, cymbals and tam-tam, the percussion set-up includes two stations of tom-toms arranged in a mirror image of one another to exploit the choreographic potential of two drummers playing in unison.
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.
