mccabe first became known as a pianist. his repertoire was wide, from pre-classical to modern composers . he specialised in twentieth-century music, particularly by english composers. he gave the uk premiere of john corigliano's piano concerto . another specialism was the music of haydn; mccabe's "definitive" mid-1970s recording of haydn's complete piano sonatas was described in "gramophone" as "one of the great recorded monuments of the keyboard repertoire" (quoted in ). he recorded several cds with the cellist julian lloyd webber .