LONDON (AP) — Peter Maxwell Davies, an experimental, socially radical composer who served as Queen Elizabeth II's official master of music, has died. He was 81.

Davies' management company, Intermusica, said he died Monday of leukemia at his home in Scotland's Orkney islands.

One of Britain's best-known modern composers, Davies created around 300 works including 10 symphonies, the operas "Taverner" and "The Lighthouse," and music-theater piece "Eight Songs for a Mad King," about the current queen's troubled ancestor, George III.

A strong environmentalist, Davies drew inspiration from the wind-swept Orkneys, where he lived for four decades and where he founded the St. Magnus Festival, an annual arts event where many of his works were given their premieres.

Recent works included "Kommilitonen!" — an opera about student activism around the world — and children's opera "The Hogboon," which is due to have its world premiere in June under Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Davies also conducted for orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic.

With his anti-establishment views and avant-garde musical leanings, Davies was a surprise choice in 2004 as Master of the Queen's Music. The honorary position, founded in 1626, is traditionally conferred by the monarch on a musician of distinction.

The position has no fixed duties, although the Master may compose pieces for royal or state occasions. Davies held the post for a decade, and told the Daily Telegraph in 2010 that the role had made him moderate his anti-monarchist views.

"I have come to realize that there is a lot to be said for the monarchy," he said. "It represents continuity, tradition and stability."

In 2005, Davies received a police warning after officers found the body of a swan — a protected species — at his home. Davies said the bird had died after flying into a power line and he had used it for food; when police officers arrived, he offered them swan terrine.

"I think they were rather horrified," he told the BBC. But, he said, "I was brought up in the war and you don't waste food."

His friend Sally Groves, former creative director at Schott Music, said Davies had been "a remarkable composer who created music theatre works of searing power, great symphonies, intense chamber music, works of truly universal popularity."