The new chief conductor of the LSO shares his thoughts on the life of the revered composer, who died earlier this week.

Conductor Sir Simon Rattle has offered a touching tribute to the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who died earlier this week aged 81. The new principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra is due to give the world premiere of the last composition Maxwell Davies’ completed before his death. The Hogboon is a new opera for a non-professional cast of amateur singers and children, which will have its first outing at the Barbican Centre on June 26. Rattle’s poignant reflection on his personal relationship with the revered composer, who was known affectionately by the nickname “Max”, was published yesterday on the LSO’s website.

“It is clear to everyone that we have lost a wonderful composer and one of our most important artistic figures, a man who embodied music, and who wanted it to be part of everybody’s life, from the youngest to the oldest. He wrote for every possible type of ability, from some of the thorniest orchestral scores of their time to music for young people that...