he visited the us four times to lecture and teach in 1918-19, 1928, 1929 and 1937. on the second and third visits he taught at the university of california, berkeley, through arrangements made by catherine murphy urner, who afterward lived with him until 1933. on the 1929 visit his symphonic poem "la joie païenne" won the hollywood bowl prize for composition and was performed there under the baton of eugene goossens. even so, koechlin had to pay for the preparation of orchestral parts, and in the 1930s he sank most of his savings into organizing performances of some of his orchestral works. in the 1940s, however, the music department of belgian radio took up his cause and broadcast several premieres of important scores including the first complete performance of the "jungle book" cycle. he died aged 83 at his country home at le canadel, var, and his body is buried there. some of his papers are housed at the university of california at berkeley library, donated by catherine urmer's husband charles rollins shatto. in 1940, the french government offered him the award of chevalier de la légion d'honneur, but he refused it.