[{"text_idx": "#000003", "text": "hyrwyddo a dathlu cerddoriaeth Cymru"}, {"text_idx": "#000004", "text": "promoting and celebrating the music of Wales"}, {"text_idx": "#000014", "text": "Yn y blynyddoedd yn dilyn yr Ail Ryfel Byd, profodd Cymru rhyw danchwa ryfeddol yn ei datblygiad cerddorol ac am y tro cyntaf erioed daeth grw\u0302p o gyfansoddwyr Cymreig o bwysigrwydd rhyngwladol i\u2019r amlwg. Ymhlith yr amlycaf o\u2019r rhain oedd Alun Hoddinott. Brodor o\u2019r Bargoed oedd Hoddinott ac fel feiolinydd yr ystyriai ei hun i ddechrau (roedd yn un o aelodau cychwynnol Cerddorfa Ieuenctid Cenedlaethol Cymru yn 1946) ond roedd eisoes yn cyfansoddi\u2019n doreithiog erbyn iddo fynd yn fyfyriwr i Adran Gerdd Prifysgol Caerdydd. Perfformiadau o\u2019i Gonsierto Cyntaf i\u2019r Clarine\u0301t yng Ngw\u0302yl Cheltenham 1954 ddaeth a\u0302 Hoddinott i amlygrwydd am y tro cyntaf ac yn y degawd dilynol buan iawn yr ymsefydlodd yn un o gyfansoddwyr Cymreig mwyaf blaenllaw ei genhedlaeth."}, {"text_idx": "#000015", "text": "Yn 1967 penodwyd Hoddinott yn Athro ac yn Bennaeth yr Adran Gerdd ym Mhrifysgol Caerdydd ac ef fu\u2019n gyfrifol am lansio Gw\u0302yl Cerddoriaeth yr 20fed ganrif. Eto, yn hytrach na llesteirio\u2019i gynnydd fel cyfansoddwr, cynyddodd ei allgynnyrch, os rhywbeth. Byddai\u2019n cyfansoddi noson ar o\u0302l noson, hyd oriau ma\u0302n y bore, ac yn raddol crynhodd bortffolio sylweddol o symffoni\u0308au, concerti, sonata\u0302u a gweithiau ym mhob genre bron. Yn 1974 cafodd ei opera gyntaf The Beach of Falesa\u0301 ei pherfformiad cyntaf gan Gwmni Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru; aeth Hoddinott yn ei flaen wedyn i gyfansoddi pum opera arall. Perfformiwyd yr olaf o\u2019r rhain, Tower, am y tro cyntaf yn 1999 ac mae\u2019r gwaith yn seiliedig ar ddigwyddiadau 1994 pan lwyddodd gweithlu Pwll Glo y \u2018Tower\u2019 yng nghymoedd De Cymru i atal eu gweithle rhag cael ei gau."}, {"text_idx": "#000016", "text": "Hoddinott oedd un o gyfansoddwyr mwyaf toreithiog ei genhedlaeth ac mae ganddo gannoedd o gyfansoddiadau i\u2019w enw. Treuliodd flynyddoedd olaf ei fywyd ym Mro Gw\u0302yr gan barhau i fod yn un o gyfansoddwyr prysuraf Cymru. Clywyd Taliesin, ei waith olaf i gerddorfa, yng Ngw\u0302yl Gerdd Abertawe yn 2009."}, {"text_idx": "#000017", "text": "In the years following the Second World War, Wales underwent a remarkable explosion in its musical development and for the first time there emerged a group of Welsh composers of international significance. Amongst the most prominent of these was Alun Hoddinott. Born in Bargoed, Hoddinott initially saw himself as a violinist (he was a founder member of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales in 1946) but was already composing prolifically by the time he entered the Music Department of Cardiff University. His first major exposure came with a performance of his First Clarinet Concerto at the 1954 Cheltenham Festival and in the decade that followed he quickly established himself as one of the leading Welsh composers of his generation."}, {"text_idx": "#000018", "text": "In 1967 Hoddinott became Professor and Head of the Music Department of University College Cardiff and was responsible for launching the Festival of 20th Century Music. Yet, far from impeding his progress as a composer, his output if anything increased. Night after night, into the small hours, he composed steadily amassing an impressive portfolio of symphonies, concertos, sonatas and works in virtually all genres. In 1974 his first opera, The Beach of Falesa\u0301 was premiered by Welsh National Opera and he went on to write a further five operas. The last of these, Tower, was premiered in 1999 and was based on the events of 1994 when the workforce of Tower Colliery in the South Wales valleys saved their workplace from closure."}, {"text_idx": "#000019", "text": "Hoddinott was one of the most prolific composers of his generation with several hundred works to his name. He spent the last years of his life in the Gower continuing to be one of Wales\u2019s busiest composers. His final orchestral work, Taliesin, was heard at the 2009 Swansea Festival."}]