Gŵr Blewog is the artistic persona of Rhys Watkin, a Welsh composer from Aberystwyth whose interests lie in neo-classical, modern classical, ambient and jazz music.
Rhys is interested in collaborations and contributions to library music, film, television, teaching materials, festivals, song settings and chamber music. He has a particular interest in collaboration with Welsh artists and artists in Wales. He can be contacted at the contact page.
Music has always been an integral part of Rhys' life. He is a multi-instrumentalist who has played in formats ranging from jazz piano through Motown and indie bands to playing cello in symphony orchestras. His musical life began in the home, with musicians and instrument-makers on both sides of the family. Rhys graduated with a First-Class Honours B.A. in the Humanities with Music from the Open University, gaining distinction grades for music composition. This followed a B.A. and M.Sc. in Mathematical Sciences from the University of Oxford. He therefore has a firm grounding in the practice and study of music.
Life on the Ceredigion coast informs his music, with particular relation to the paradox of the ever–present ever–changing sea. Rhys' compositions are mainly (and deliberately) improvisational piano pieces which explore the relationship between one's home, one's environment and one's memories. These pieces whilst varied in mood and outward form are built from small fragments, often as brief as a few notes, to convey an atmospheric and cinematic soundscape mirroring the shifting beauty of north Ceredigion. Rhys also writes longer-form pieces for chamber ensembles. His background in mathematics also informs his work through experiments in aleatoric music and techniques drawn from artificial intelligence research. See the portfolio page for examples of his work.
Influences — or more accurately admired composers — include Bill Evans, John Adams, and Lili Boulanger, to name but a few.
Rhys is a first-language Welsh speaker; he is also proficient in French and he has also lived and worked in Berlin.
He is also a published music critic having contributed reviews to the Welsh-language magazines Barn and O'r Pedwar Gwynt.
Gŵr Blewog yw persona cerddorol Rhys Watkin, cyfansoddwr Cymraeg o Aberystwyth sy'n ymddiddori mewn cerddoriaeth neo-glasurol, clasurol fodern, ambient a jazz.
Mae Rhys â diddordeb mewn cyd-weithio a chyfrannu at gerddoriaeth llyfyrgell, ffilm, teledu, adnoddau addysg, gwyliau cerddoriaeth, gosodiadau cân, a cherddoriaeth siambr. Mae cydweithio ag artistiaid Cymreig ac yng Nghymru o ddiddordeb arbennig iddo. Gellir cysylltu â Rhys drwy'r dudalen gyswllt .
Bu cerddoriaeth o bwys mawr i Rhys drwy ei oes. Mae'n chwarae nifer o offerynnau a sawl math o gerddoriaeth, o biano jazz drwy Motown ac indie hyd chwarae'r soddgrwth mewn cerddorfaoedd. Mae cefndir cerddorol y teulu o bwys iddo, gyda cherddorion a gwneuthurwyr offerynnau ymhlith y teulu. Graddiodd â gradd dosbarth cyntaf yn y Dyniaethau a Cherddoriaeth o'r Brifysgol Agored, gan ennill marciau uchel am gyfansoddi. Cyn hynny, cymerodd raddau B.A. ac M.Sc. mewn Mathemateg o Brifysgol Rhydychen. Mae profiad cerddorol Rhys felly ar sylfaen gryf.
Bywyd ar arfordir Ceredigion sy'n dylanwadu'n bennaf ar gerddoriaeth Rhys. Ynglwm â hyn oll mae paradocs y môr, ar unwaith yn gyson ac yn newid o hyd. Gweithiau mympwyol yn fwyaf (ac yn fwriadol) yw swmp y cyfansoddiadau piano. Datblygir y darnau o bytiau cerddorol byr. Ymgais at fynegi a chraffu ar y berthynas rhwng cartref, cynefin ac atgofion yw'r darnau hyn. O'r eginau bychain daw ymdrech at gerddoriaeth, er yn amrywiol ei naws, sy'n adlewyrchiad sinematig o harddwch newidiol gogledd Ceredigion. Mae Rhys hefyd yn sgwennu darnau ar ffurfiau hwy, ac o'i gefndir mathemategol daw arbrofion ar gerddoriaeth aleatorig neu ar hap. Gweler y bortffolio am enghreifftiau o'i waith.
Mae dylanwadau — neu'r rhai a edmygir — yn cynnwys Bill Evans, John Adams, a Lili Boulanger, i enwi ond rhai.
Mae Rhys yn medru rhywfaint ar Ffrangeg, ac fe fu'n byw a gweithio yn yr Almaen am gyfnod.
Yn ogystal, mae Rhys yn sylwebydd cerddoriaeth, ac fe gyhoeddwyd adolygiadau yng nghylchgronnau Barn ac O'r Pedwar Gwynt.
Gonestrwydd ysgolheigaidd – Cydymaith i Gerddoriaeth Cymru, O'r Pedwar Gwynt
Dibrisio Anfarwoldeb – Léos Janáček, The Makropulos Affair, Welsh National Opera, O'r Pedwar Gwynt