Following a holiday in Italy from 8 to 18 June, Maconchy hit the ground running upon her return to England, attending a concert followed by a supper party at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth II in attendance on the 19th. A couple of days later, Maconchy and LeFanu travelled to Aldeburgh for the première of Nicola's Paysage for baritone solo. During her time in Aldeburgh, Maconchy had the opportunity to see a production of Britten's Death in Venice, as well as a rehearsal of a work by Lutosławski and a recital by Pears. Then, on the morning of the 25th, she attended rehearsals of her Oboe Quartet, which was performed that evening in an SPNM concert.

Maconchy returned home from Aldeburgh later that night, giving her a day to prepare before her trip to Wales on the 27th to attend a rehearsal and recording by BBC Wales of her Symphony for Double String Orchestra, conducted by Vernon Handley, which was surely due to Williams's continued advocacy. The following month, Maconchy attended the final day of the SPNM Composers’ Weekend. Begun in 1967 by composers Don Banks (1923–80), Anthony Gilbert (b. 1934), and Maconchy's future son-in-law, David Lumsdaine (b. 1931), the Composers’ Weekend was held annually in the summer and featured a number of lectures, masterclasses, and concerts, as well as a number of discussions.

On 27 July, Maconchy was at the Royal Academy of Music to receive her honorary membership – a gesture that had left her somewhat perplexed as to the reasoning behind it. Following the ceremony, she then travelled to Salisbury for a rehearsal of And Death Shall Have No Dominion on the morning of the 28th, with a performance taking place later in the evening as part of the final concert of that year's Southern Cathedrals Festival.

On 7 August, Maconchy was in London for the première of Nicola's The Hidden Landscape, which had been commissioned for the Proms. Of the four Proms commissions for 1973, three went to women. Unsurprisingly this drew a great deal of attention in the press, with Edward Greenfield going so far as to declare, ‘Sir William Glock denies that he is a convert to Women's Lib!’