Searle was one of the foremost pioneers of serial music in the United Kingdom, and used his role as a producer at the BBC to promote it. Works of note include a Poem for 22 Strings (1950), premiered at Darmstadt, a Gogol' opera, The Diary of a Madman (1958), and five symphonies.
He is also known for developing the most authoritative catalogue of Franz Liszt works, and the numbering system he developed is frequently used to identify his works.
Often, Searle found these solutions in the traditions of the past: the Piano Sonata mentioned above uses a Lisztian thematic transformation structure within a twelve-tone context; while the Second Symphony (1956-58) is a twelve-tone symphony cast in a perfectly traditional three movements… it even comes complete with a decent, god-fearing sonata format opening movement.
Although the Abbe's music had never totally dropped from view; when Searle became honorary secretary (and co-founder) of the Liszt Society in 1950, the average listener's familiarity with Liszt's music is likely to have been restricted to a handful of piano showpieces and the pride of the cliffhanger serial, "Les Préludes".
Searle's writings on the composer, including "The Music of Liszt" (1954; rev. 1966), and his cataloging of the composer's works (to this day, Liszt's music is identified by S (Searle) numbers; although the actual catalog has been revised by others since Searle's death) played a significant role in the musical rehabilitation of Franz Liszt.
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