In recognition of the many concerts he gave for the Allied Forces during the Second World War, flying over from America whenever he could find space in a military plane, Yehudi Menuhin was awarded numerous honours. The list of honours has continued to increase over the years and to date includes, among many others, the Legion d’Honneur from France; the Great Order of Merit, Germany’s highest honour; the Ordre Leopold and the Ordre de la Couronne from Belgium; from England the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gold Medal and from Spain the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Merito Civil and the Premio Principe de Asturias de la Concordia. Queen Elizabeth II bestowed a knighthood on him in 1965 and gave him the Order of Merit in 1987, followed by a life peerage in 1993.

He is an Honorary Doctor of over 30 universities in different countries, including those of Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrew’s and the Sorbonne, as well as being a Freeman of the cities of Edinburgh, Bath, Reims and Warsaw and holding the Gold Medals of the cities of Paris, New York and Jerusalem. He was also the first Westerner to be made an Honorary Professor of the Beijing Conservatoire in recognition of his concerts in China and for his endeavours to help many young Chinese violinists continue their studies in the West.