Harrison Birtwistle, a leading modern British composer noted for his experimental approach to making classical music, died on Monday at the age of 87, according to his publisher.

Birtwistle, who was born in the northern English town of Accrington in 1934, is known for his highly praised operas “Gawain” and “The Mask Of Orpheus,” as well as the famous symphonic work “The Triumph of Time.”

His works, which varied from chamber pieces to grand operas, were performed in the world’s most prestigious locations by some of the world’s best symphony orchestras throughout a decades-long career that lasted well into his 80s.

His publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, confirmed he died at home in Mere, southwest England, in a statement on their website. There was no mention of a cause of death.

Birtwistle began his career as a clarinettist and composer at the Royal Manchester College of Music, where he was knighted in 1988 and made a Companion of Honour in 2001.

He then sold his instruments to concentrate on composition, and while a Harkness Fellow at Princeton University in the United States, he wrote the opera “Punch And Judy.”

The work, together with the instrumental compositions “Verses for Ensembles” and “The Triumph of Time,” was premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1968, firmly establishing Birtwistle as a key figure in British music.

In 1975, he was appointed musical director of the newly founded Royal National Theatre in London, a post he held until 1983.

He was widely regarded as pioneering for his uncompromising manner, frequently offering up a cacophony of sound in his pieces that divided audiences and reviewers. He was described as “elusive and curmudgeonly” in one obituary.

His music “shook the planet,” according to the Royal Philharmonic Society, which was among the organisations and individuals that paid homage to him on Monday.