Alun Hoddinott

The prolific Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott was born at Bargoed, Glamorganshire on 11 August 1929. He studied privately with Arthur Benjamin in London, and also at University College Cardiff. His Clarinet Concerto, first performed by Gervase de Peyer at the 1954 Cheltenham Festival, marked the start of a series of important commissions which continued until shortly before his death (in Swansea on 12 March 2008, aged seventy-eight) - including three pieces to mark various milestones in the life of the Prince of Wales.

Hoddinott, who fought tirelessly for recognition of the arts and especially contemporary music in Wales, received many awards, honours and doctorates and, over a period of forty years from 1967, was reader, professor and then head of the music department at Cardiff University (previously University College Cardiff).

Although he spent his entire working life in Cardiff, he travelled widely, particularly within Europe and the USA, and became an international ambassador for the arts in Wales.

He will be remembered not only for his original and colourful music - he was one of Wales' major composers of the 20th century and wrote nearly three hundred works, including ten symphonies and six operas - but in the naming of a new hall in Cardiff's Millennium Centre - Neuadd Hoddinott y BBC (BBC Hoddinott Hall).

 

A selection of articles about Alun Hoddinott

Classical music news. Obituary - Hilary Tann (1947-2023)

Alun Hoddinott (1929-2008) - John McCabe pays tribute to a friend and colleague

Wales loses its patriarch - Roderic Dunnett pays tribute to the Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott, who died in March

Ensemble. A fitting celebration - The BBC National Orchestra of Wales plays Ravel, Hoddinott and Vaughan Williams, reviewed by Rex Harley

Presteigne notes - Further news from the continuing Presteigne Festival in Wales