in 1968, after 25 years with the hallé, barbirolli retired from the principal conductorship; no successor was appointed in his lifetime. he was appointed the orchestra's conductor laureate. he reduced the number of his appearances with the hallé, but nevertheless took it on another european tour in 1968, this time to switzerland, austria and germany. in his last years a propensity to concentrate on detail at the expense of the whole of a piece became marked. his loyal friend and admirer the critic neville cardus wrote privately in 1969, "he seems so much to love a single phrase that he lingers over it, caressing it; meanwhile the general momentum is lost." his final year, 1970, was dogged by heart trouble; he suffered collapses in april, may, june and july. his last two concerts were with the hallé at the 1970 king's lynn festival. he produced "inspired" renderings of elgar's symphony no. 1 and "sea pictures". the last work he conducted in public was beethoven's symphony no. 7 on the saturday before his death. on the day he died, 29 july 1970, he spent several hours rehearsing the new philharmonia orchestra for a forthcoming tour of japan that he was scheduled to lead.