London: British composer Peter Maxwell Davies, who served as Queen Elizabeth II's official master of music, has died at 81.
Davies' management company, Intermusica, says he died Monday of leukemia at his home in Scotland's Orkney Islands.
One of Britain's best-known modern composers, Davies created some 300 works including symphonies, the operas ‘Taverner’ and ‘The Lighthouse,’ and ‘Eight Songs for a Mad King,’ about the current queen's troubled ancestor, George III.
His most recent work was an opera for children, ‘The Hogboon.’
Despite his anti-establishment views and avant-garde musical leanings, in 2004 Davies was appointed Master of the Queen's Music.
The honourary position, founded in 1626, is traditionally conferred by the monarch on a musician of distinction. He held the post for a decade.
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