Souster, Tim(othy Andrew James)

Souster, Tim(othy Andrew James) , avant-garde English composer; b. Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, Jan. 29, 1943; d. Cambridge, March 1, 1994. He studied with Rose, Lumsden, and Wellesz at the Univ. of Oxford (B.A., 1964; B.Mus., 1965); in 1964 he attended courses in new music given by Stockhausen and Berio in Darmstadt; received private instruction from Bennett (1965). He was a music producer for the BBC (1965–67). After serving as composer-in-residence at King’s Coll., Cambridge (1969–71), he was a teaching assistant to Stock-hausen in Cologne (1971–73); later was a research fellow in electronic music at the Univ. of Keele (1975–77); in 1988–89 he was chairman of the Assn. of Professional Composers. He became one of the most articulate exponents of serial, aleatory, and combinatorial ideas, in which electronic media are employed in conjunction with acoustical performances by humans; he expounded these ideas in his WRITINGS in the Listener, Tempo, and other progressive publications. In 1969 he was a co-founder (with Roger Smalley) of the Inter-modulation Group, with the aim of presenting works by congenial composers and experimenters; it disbanded in 1976 and he then formed a new group, OdB.

Works

Songs of the Seasons for Soprano and Viola (1965); Poem in Depression for Soprano, Flute, Viola, Cello, and Piano (1965); Parallels for 2 Percussion Players (1966); Metropolitan Games for Piano Duet (1967); Titus Groan Music for Wind Quintet, Electronics, and Magnetic Tape (1969); Chinese Whispers for Percussion and 3 Electronic Synthesizers (1970); Waste Land Music for Soprano Saxophone, Modulated Piano, Modulated Organ, and Electronic Synthesizer (London, July 14, 1970); Triple Music II for 3 Orchs. (London, Aug. 13, 1970); Song of an Average City for Small Orch. and Tape (1974); Afghan Amplitudes for Keyboards and Synthesizers (1976); Sonata for Cello and Ensemble (1979); Mareas for 4 Amplified Voices and Tape (1981); Paws 3D for Orch. (1984); Le Souvenir de Maurice Ravel for Septet (1984); Hambledon Hill for Amplified String Quartet (1985); Concerto for Trumpet, Live Electronics, and Orch. (1988).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire