Tate, Phyllis (Margaret Duncan) (b Gerrards Cross, 1911; d Hampstead, 1987). Eng. composer. Held no official posts, devoting herself to comp. Imaginative and skilled composer, who wrote especially well for vv. and small ens. Works incl.:OPERAS: The Lodger (1959–60); Dark Pilgrimage (TV) (1963).ORCH.: Sax. conc. (1944); Panorama, str. (1977).BRASS BAND: Illustrations (1969).VOICE(S) & INSTR(S).: Nocturne, SATB soloists, str. qt., db., bcl., cel. (1946); The Lady of Shalott, ten., chamber ens. (1956); A Victorian Garland, sop., cont., hn., pf. (1965); Gravestones, for Cleo Laine (1966); Apparitions, ten., harmonica, pf. quintet (1968); Coastal Ballads, bar., instr. (1969); Creatures Great and Small, mez., gui., db., perc. (1973); 2 Ballads, mez., gui. (1974); Songs of Sundrie Kinds, ten., lute (1975); Scenes from Kipling, bar., pf. (1976); Scenes from Tyneside, mez., cl., pf. (1978); The Ballad of Reading Gaol, bar., org., vc. (1980).CHORAL: Choral Scene from The Bacchae, mixed ch., opt. org. (1953); Witches and Spells, ch. (1959); 7 Lincolnshire Folk Songs, ch., ens. (1966); A Secular Requiem, ch., org., orch. (1967); To Words by Joseph Beaumont, women's ch. (1970); Serenade to Christmas, mez., ch., orch. (1972); St Martha and the Dragon, narr., soloists, ch., orch. (1976); All the World's a Stage, ch., orch. (1977); Compassion, ch., orch. (or org.) (1978).CHAMBER MUSIC: sonata, cl., vc. (1947); str. qt. (1952, rev. 1982); Air and Variations, vn., cl., pf. (1958); Variegations, va. (1970); The Rainbow and the Cuckoo, ob., str. trio (1974); Sonatina pastorale, harmonica, hpd. (1974); Seasonal Sequence, va., pf. (1977); 3 Pieces, cl. (1979); Prelude, Aria, Interlude, Finale, cl., pf. (1981).PIANO: Explorations around a Troubadour Song (1973); Lyric Suite, 2 pf. (1973).