Nativity play
As a composer, Rowley produced a large body of works, many of which were educational pieces or were designed for amateur performers. His larger-scale works include three piano concertos, an Oboe Concerto, a "Rhapsody" for viola and orchestra, and several keyboard pieces including two symphonies for organ. His "Three Idylls" for piano and orchestra, and "Burlesque Quadrilles", were premiered at wartime Promenade concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, and his "English Suite" and "Boyhood of Christ", both for strings, were performed by the Hallé Orchestra at the Cheltenham Festival in 1949 and 1954 respectively. Rowley wrote a large number of songs and choral pieces, both sacred and secular; these include a Nativity play "On Bethlehem Hill" (1958). In his compositions, Rowley generally avoided modernity, although on occasion he was not afraid to experiment with more modern harmonic forms.