[3] Sawer has received numerous commissions that have resulted in impressive works for the concert hall, dance, film, theatre and radio.
Certain characteristics remain from his early music: for instance the blurring of background and foreground in his first orchestral work, Trompe l'oeil (1982; since withdrawn).
Conductors of his work include George Benjamin, Martyn Brabbins, Andrew Davis, Paul Daniel, Sian Edwards, Mark Elder, Richard Farnes, Edward Gardner, Reinbert de Leeuw, Brad Lubman, Susanna Mälkki, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leonard Slatkin, Jac van Steen, Ilan Volkov, Mark Wigglesworth.
In the theatre, he has worked with playwrights Howard Barker, Edward Bond, Nick Dear, Paul Godfrey and David Harrower.
Recent works include Flesh and Blood, a dramatic scene for two voices and orchestra, premiered at the Barbican by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov, with soloists Christine Rice and Marcus Farnsworth, Wonder, for SATB choir, included in the Choirbook for the Queen, a concert suite of Rumpelstiltskin , premiered by BCMG at the Wigmore Hall, conducted by George Benjamin, and The Lighthouse Keepers, a radio play based on a Grand Guignol play, adapted by David Harrower, for the 2013 Cheltenham Festival.