Editing Thomas Beecham (section)

===1950s and later years===
Beecham, whom the BBC called "Britain's first international conductor",<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00zddd4 "CD Review"], BBC Radio 3, 12 March 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011</ref> took the RPO on a strenuous tour through the United States, Canada and South Africa in 1950.<ref name=grove/><ref name=dnb/> During the North American tour, Beecham conducted 49 concerts in almost daily succession.<ref>Procter-Gregg, p. 200</ref> In 1951, he was invited to conduct at Covent Garden after a 12-year absence.<ref name=reid236>Reid, p. 236</ref> State-funded for the first time, the opera company operated quite differently from his pre-war regime. Instead of short, star-studded seasons, with a major symphony orchestra, the new director [[David Webster (opera manager)|David Webster]] was attempting to build up a permanent ensemble of home-grown talent performing all the year round, in English translations. Extreme economy in productions and great attention to the box-office were essential, and Beecham, though he had been hurt and furious at his exclusion, was not suited to participate in such an undertaking.<ref>Haltrecht, p. 106</ref> When offered a chorus of eighty singers for his return, conducting ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg|Die Meistersinger]]'', he insisted on augmenting their number to 200. He also, contrary to Webster's policy, insisted on performing the piece in German.<ref name=reid236/> In 1953 at [[Oxford]], Beecham presented the world premiere of Delius's first opera, ''[[Irmelin]]'', and his last operatic performances in Britain were in 1955 at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], with [[André Grétry|Grétry]]'s ''Zémire et Azor''.<ref name=dnb/>

Between 1951 and 1960, Beecham conducted 92 concerts at the [[Royal Festival Hall]].<ref>Jefferson, p. 103</ref> Characteristic Beecham programmes of the RPO years included symphonies by Bizet, [[César Franck|Franck]], [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]], [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]] and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]; Richard Strauss's ''Ein Heldenleben''; concertos by Mozart and [[Camille Saint-Saëns|Saint-Saëns]]; a Delius and [[Jean Sibelius|Sibelius]] programme; and many of his favoured shorter pieces.<ref>"Concerts", ''The Times'', 13 and 29 September 18 and 25 October 1, 15 and 29 November and 6 December 1958</ref> He did not stick uncompromisingly to his familiar repertoire. After the sudden death of the German conductor [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]] in 1954, Beecham in tribute conducted the two programmes his colleague had been due to present at the Festival Hall; these included Bach's [[Brandenburg concertos|Third Brandenburg Concerto]], [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]]'s ''[[Rapsodie espagnole]]'', [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]]'s [[Symphony No. 1 (Brahms)|Symphony No. 1]], and [[Samuel Barber|Barber]]'s ''Second Essay for Orchestra''.<ref>"Concerts", ''The Times'', 19 and 21 January 1955</ref>

[[File:Thomas Beecham grave.jpg|thumb|alt=Beecham's gravestone|Beecham's grave at St Peter's Church in [[Limpsfield]], Surrey. His epitaph is from the play ''[[The False One]]'' by [[Francis Beaumont]] and [[Philip Massinger]], Act 2 Scene 1, 169. ]]
In the summer of 1958, Beecham conducted a season at the [[Teatro Colón]], Buenos Aires, Argentina, consisting of Verdi's ''[[Otello]],'' Bizet's ''Carmen'', Beethoven's ''[[Fidelio]],'' Saint-Saëns's ''[[Samson and Delilah (opera)|Samson and Delilah]]'' and Mozart's ''The Magic Flute''. These were his last operatic performances.<ref name=reid238>Reid, pp. 238–239</ref> It was during this season that Betty Humby died suddenly.  She was cremated in Buenos Aires and her ashes returned to England. Beecham's own last illness prevented his operatic debut at Glyndebourne in a planned ''Magic Flute'' and a final appearance at Covent Garden conducting Berlioz's ''The Trojans''.{{refn|Colin Davis, Beecham's assistant for the Glyndebourne production, took on the ''Magic Flute'' performances, and [[Rafael Kubelík]] conducted the Berlioz.<ref>"Sudden Setback for Sir Thomas Beecham", ''The Times'', 13 July 1960, p. 12; and "''The Trojans'' Revived", ''The Times'', 30 April 1960, p. 10</ref>|group= n}}

Sixty-six years after his first visit to America, Beecham made his last, beginning in late 1959, conducting in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Washington. During this tour, he also conducted in Canada. He flew back to London on 12 April 1960 and did not leave England again.<ref>Jefferson, pp. 21 and 226–27</ref> His final concert was at [[Portsmouth Guildhall]] on 7 May 1960. The programme, all characteristic choices, comprised the ''Magic Flute'' Overture, Haydn's [[Symphony No. 100 (Haydn)|Symphony No. 100]] (the ''Military''), Beecham's own Handel arrangement, ''Love in Bath'', Schubert's [[Symphony No. 5 (Schubert)|Symphony No. 5]], ''On the River'' by Delius, and the ''Bacchanale'' from ''Samson and Delilah''.<ref>Reid, p. 244</ref>

Beecham died of a [[coronary thrombosis]] at his London residence, aged 81, on 8 March 1961.<ref>Reid, p. 245</ref> He was buried two days later in [[Brookwood Cemetery]], Surrey. Owing to changes at Brookwood, his remains were exhumed in 1991 and reburied in [[Church of St Peter, Limpsfield|St Peter]]'s Churchyard at [[Limpsfield]], Surrey, close to the joint grave of Delius and his wife [[Jelka Rosen]].<ref>Lucas, p. 339</ref>