Little Sea Gongs

Gareth Farr

General Info

Year: 1997
Duration: 00:03:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Promethean
Cost: Score and Parts - $39.95   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Crash Cymbal & 2 Roto-Toms
Player 2: 2 Roto-Toms
Player 3: 2 Roto-Toms
Player 4: Crash Cymbal & 2 Roto-Toms & Kick Drum

Program Notes

Little Sea Gongs is a miniature companion-piece to From the Depths Sound the Great Sea Gongs, a major work composed for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra which incorporates the visual spectacle of three percussionists playing a line of ten roto-toms. The drumming style is very much inspired by Rarotongan log drumming and is fast, furious and very loud.

Little Sea Gongs started as a short drumming piece to end the composer's stage show Drumdrag. Like the larger work, it was intended to be a Rarotongan-style composition, but played on western drums. It was never notated, and was intended to be flexible in its instrumentation—the drummers would simply play on whatever instruments they happened to have handy. The number of performers also varied from three to seven players.

The present quartet arrangement of Little Sea Gongs was made at the request of Murray Hickman of the percussion ensemble Strike, and has since become one of the group's most frequently performed pieces.

Recent Performances

To submit a performance please join the TEK Percussion Database

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Beat! - Percussion Trio; Javanese Gamelan
Concerto for Percussion & Orchestra (Farr) - Percussion Quartet; Orchestra
Dialogue (Farr) - Percussion Duo - Vibraphone & Marimba
Duggan Theme - Marimba; Flute
Duggan Theme (Vibes) - Marimba; Vibraphone
Hikoi - Multiple Percussion
Illumina - Multiple Percussion; Choir; Soprano
Kembang Suling - Marimba; Flute
Little Sea Gongs - Percussion Quartet
Marimba Concerto (Farr) - Marimba; Orchestra
Nga Tai Hurihuri - Percussion Quartet; Kaikaranga; Voice
Pathways - Multiple Percussion; Choir; Synthesizer
Percussion Octet (Farr) - Percussion Octet
Pukul - Percussion Quintet
Pukul Wainui - Percussion Ensemble; Gamelan Orchestra
Saraswati - Marimba Trio; Voice; Violin
Smashing Sweet Vixen - Percussion Trio
Spook - Marimba
Taiko Tango - Multiple Percussion
Tangaroa - Marimba
Tangi te Kawekawea - Percussion Trio; Choir
Te Parenga - Percussion Duo; Clarinet; Strings
The Mad Dog Bites Again - Multiple Percussion; Saxophone Quartet
Three Etudes - Marimba
Three Little Pieces for Eve - Multiple Percussion; Piano
Tirohia Atu Nei - Percussion Duo; Choir
Tuatara - Multiple Percussion; Piano
Tubes - Percussion Quartet
Ukare Funk - Percussion Quartet
Un Verano de Passion - Marimba; Clarinet; Tenor Saxophone; Guitar
Volume Pig - Percussion Quartet
Waikohu - Percussion Trio; Voice, Soprano
Warriors from Pluto - Percussion Quintet; Double String Orchestra