Photo: 123RF
Gareth Farr's From the Depths Sound the Great Sea Gongs is in two parts and was commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for their 50th anniversary celebrations in 1996/7.
After the première, critic John Button wrote in The Dominion:
“What a splendid celebration of the orchestra [From the Depths Sound the Great Sea Gongs] is! … it revealed a kaleidoscope of colours, from propulsive South Seas drumming to the full gamut of sounds from the strings, woodwind and brass. A delicate, almost La Mer, moment, full of half-heard fragments and followed by a tremendous sustained passage for full orchestra, sounding for all the world like the gods entering some sort of Pacific Valhalla, thrilled the ear.”
Recorded 26 June 2020, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington by RNZ Concert
