Ralph Vaughan Williams after Boult, Sargent and Barbirolli are Vernon Handley, Richard Hickox, Sir Mark Elder and Sir Andrew Davis. Record companies with extensive lists of Vaughan Williams recordings include EMI, Decca, Chandos, Hyperion and Naxos. Vaughan Williams refused a knighthood at least once, and declined the post of Master of the King's Music after Elgar's death. The one state honour he accepted was the Order of Merit in 1935, which confers no prenominal title: he preferred to remain "Dr Vaughan Williams". His academic and musical honours included an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Oxford (1919); the Cobbett medal for
Howard Williams (conductor) Hamilton’s "Anna Karenina", and their first production of "The Consul" [Menotti]. Acclaimed for his partnership with singers, he has altogether conducted more than seventy operas. He was principal conductor of the Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra, 1981–1989; Principal Conductor & Artistic Director Pécs Symphony Orchestra (now Pannon Philharmonic), Hungary, (1989–93 and again 1996–2000);</ref> Guest conductor with the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, London, 1984–1986. He conducted the pioneering new productions and television recordings of "Punch & Judy", 1986, and "The Knot Garden", 1987, with Opera Factory. Williams has appeared with most major orchestras in the UK and many throughout Europe. His recordings