Alun Hoddinott

@Welsh Men, Timeline and Childhood ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ A welsh music composer and teacher, Alun Hoddinott was a pioneer of contemporary music Welsh Musicians Composers Leo Celebrities Since his childhood days, Alun Hoddinott was attracted to music and he started learning the violin, which is considered to be the instrument of choice of a composer. His works started gaining attention while he was a student. His music was known for having deep sensuality and dark undertones. The author used to work in the dark recesses of night, thus most of his pieces were based in a nocturnal setting and the music used to perfectly blend with such settings. Apart from being a prolific composer, this musician was also an outstanding teacher. During his career at the ‘Cardiff College’, which was later known as ‘University College’, he polished many budding talents and provided them a platform in the form of ‘Cardiff Festival of Twentieth Century Music’. He was a generous personality who always encouraged their friends and colleagues to pursue their interests. As a composer, the man worked with a rare ferocity and generally baffled his contemporaries with the speed he composed. His works were of a diverse nature and had explored all forms of music including operas, symphonies and concertos. In the course of his glorious career, he had composed over 300 individual works including six operas. The ‘BBC National Orchestra of Wales’ organised the gala opening of the composer’s last work, ‘Taliesin’, at the ‘Swansea Festival of Music’ in 2009 after his death. To know more about the composer read on

Personal Details

Birthday: August 11, 1929 Died on: March 12, 2008 Nationality: Welsh Famous: Welsh Men, Musicians, Composers Known as: Hoddinott Universities: Cardiff University Birth Place: Glamorgan Information Detail Birthday August 11, 1929 Died on March 12, 2008 Nationality Welsh Famous Welsh Men, Musicians, Composers Known as Hoddinott Universities Cardiff University Birth Place Glamorgan Gender Male Sun Sign Leo Born in Glamorgan Famous as Composer Died at Age 78

Glamorgan

Alun Hoddinott born at Unsplash Birth Place

Alun was married to Rhiannon, who collaborated with him on many projects and also acted as his translator and amanuensis. Unsplash Personal Life

Alun died at the age of 78, in Wales, a day after the world premiere of his ensemble ‘Music for Star Quartet’ Unsplash Personal Life

Alun Hoddinott was born on 11th August 1929 in Glamorganshire County, Wales. His father was a teacher who worked in the town of Bargoed, located in the same county. When his father got offered a job in Pont-Iliw, the family moved there when Alun was still an infant. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

The young lad developed a keen interest towards music since his childhood days. He even started learning to play the violin at the tender age of four. He started composing while pursuing his education at the ‘Gowerton Grammar School’. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

After winning a scholarship, the youngster earned his ‘Bachelors in Arts’ degree from ‘University College’ located in Cardiff, in 1949. He then continued learning the nuances of music composition in London from Arthur Benjamin, the Australian composer. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Alun embarked on his musical career as a child, and in 1946 he co-founded the ‘National Youth Orchestra of Wales’, when he was only a teenager. While he was a student at ‘University College, Cardiff’, he composed a wide range of pieces, including symphonies for orchestra and cello concerts, quartets and songs for choirs. Unsplash Career

Hoddinott began his teaching career as a lecturer in the ‘Cardiff College of Music and Drama’ in 1954. Unsplash Career

In the 1954 ‘Cheltenham Festival’, Alun’s musical composition ‘Clarinet Concerto’ was first premiered. It was performed by musician Gervase de Peyer and the musical symphony ‘Halle Orchestra’ was conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. The premiere was a huge success and brought instant glory to Hoddinott. Unsplash Career

After an eight-year-long association with the music department of ‘Cardiff College of Music and Drama’, this composer joined his alma mater ‘The University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire’ as a lecturer in 1959. Unsplash Career

He was designated as a reader of the ‘University of Wales’ in 1965, a post he held for the next two years. Even during this time Alun composed music for various festivals. He composed the musical ‘The cantata Dives and Lazarus’ for the ‘Farnham Schools Festival’, in the same year. Unsplash Career

Hoddinott's opera ‘The Sun, the Great Luminary of the Universe’, which he composed in 1970 for the ‘Swansea Music Festival’, is considered one of his greatest works. The ‘London Symphony Orchestra’ presented the composition orchestrated by Vernon Handley, a famous British conductor. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	August 11, 1929
Died on	March 12, 2008
Nationality	Welsh
Famous	Welsh Men, Musicians, Composers
Known as	Hoddinott
Universities	Cardiff University
Birth Place	Glamorgan
Gender	Male
Sun Sign	Leo
Born in	Glamorgan
Famous as	Composer
Died at Age	78

Alun Hoddinott

Welsh

Aug 11, 1929

Biography

Personal Details

Glamorgan