in 1944 he returned to britain. his orchestra, the london philharmonic orchestra, were now a self-governing body (the members themselves made decisions about what the orchestra should do and play). they decided that they did not want beecham because he would want to have power to rule the orchestra in the way he wanted. so beecham formed another orchestra: the royal philharmonic orchestra. he gave many concerts, toured with them and made many great recordings. he was especially known for his concerts of joseph haydn and mozart. he also conducted die meistersinger at covent garden in 1951 as well as appearing at the teatro colón in buenos aires in 1958. the last concert he gave was on 7 may 1960 when he conducted the rpo in portsmouth.