after his move to orkney, davies often used orcadian (the adjective of “orkney”) or more generally scottish themes in his music. he sometimes set the words of orcadian writer george mackay brown. he wrote a number of other operas, "the martyrdom of st magnus" (1976), "the lighthouse" (1980, his most popular opera), "resurrection" (1987), and "the doctor of myddfai" (1996). davies also became interested in classical forms, completing his first symphony in 1976. he wrote eight numbered symphonies since, a sinfonia concertante (1982), as well as the series of ten "strathclyde concertos" for various instruments (pieces he wrote when he worked with the scottish chamber orchestra). in 2002, he began work on a series of string quartets for the maggini string quartet to record on the naxos record label (the so-called "naxos quartets"). his most recent one is no.9 (2006).