(1929 - 2008)
Born in Bargoed, Glamorgan on 11 August 1929, Alun Hoddinott began his musical career as a violinist and in 1946 became a founder member of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, in which he played the viola. He then won a composition scholarship from Gowerton Grammar School to Cardiff University and his first acknowledged compositions were performed and broadcast by the BBC when he was still an undergraduate. After private lessons in London with Arthur Benjamin he came to international prominence in 1954 when his Clarinet Concerto of 1949 was given its public premiere at the Cheltenham Festival by Gervase de Peyer and the Halle under Barbirolli and repeated at the 1956 Proms with the BBC Symphony and Malcolm Sargent. A regular flow of commissions followed from the major British festivals and orchestras in which Hoddinott went on to develop and refine an increasingly personal and vividly coloured musical language. After teaching at the Welsh College of Music & Drama from 1951 he returned to Cardiff University in 1959 as a lecturer and in 1967 became Professor of Music there, a post held until 1987. In 1967 he also founded the Cardiff Festival of 20th Century Music with his friend, the pianist John Ogdon.
Alun Hoddinott Composition Timpani and Percussion Requirements
Symphony No 2
Timpani + 5 percussion
Tubular bells, 3 tom toms, orchestral bass drum, snare drum, piccolo snare drum, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, glockenspiel, vibraphone, xylophone, tam tam, tenor drum
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Symphony No 3
Timpani + 4 percussion
Glockenspiel, tubular bells, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, marimba, xylophone, vibraphone
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Welsh Dances
Timpani + 4 percussion
1) snare drum, xylophone, glockenspiel (shared with P2) 2) glockenspiel (shared with P1) triangle, wood block, 3) vibraphone, marimba, 4) orchestral bass drum, tambourine, marimba
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