Hikoi (journey) was commissioned by Evelyn Glennie and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. After the premiere performances in New Zealand, the work was later heard in a concert as part of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
The resulting 40-minute piece is, in my opinion, the most accomplished of Gareth Farr's large scale pieces, and the first I've heard for some time that does not sound hasty in its gestation. It is a most imposing work, full of contrast. The wild, Polynesian drumming is in evidence as always, but so, too, is a contemplative lyricism, always part of the Farr makeup, but here properly formed and resolved. The marriage of violin and marimba in the central section of the work is beautifully made.
