His music hasn't penetrated much beyond his native Great Britain. If one considers his 40-year career of steady composing, his catalogue isn't all that large, and there's no monster hit. Nevertheless, his three symphonies (plus an earlier Symphonic Studies, a symphony in all but name) garnered much admiration in Britain, even at a time when tonal composers suffered a rough go during one of Great Britain's periodic self-reproaches for insularity. His music enjoyed greatest success from the late Forties to the late Sixties. Rawsthorne's scores are always well-made and the ideas forthright and clear. It covers great emotional range – from granitic strength to dry wit.