[4] In 1921 he was awarded a fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO) and (after some coaching from Harold Darke, who remained a friend) took his DMus in 1928.
[4] He is best remembered for his short passion cantata, The Last Supper (1930), which sets texts from the gospels of Matthew and John and hymns by St Thomas Aquinas, Charles Wesley and Johann Franck.
[10] These include a large number of part songs (many for SS or SSA and piano, but also many for SATB) and many anthems and carols, as well as over 100 published organ pieces.
He was influenced by Edward Elgar (1857–1934),[3] but as Michael Hurd points out, the titles of his extended choral works – The Last Supper (1930), The Parables (1931), The High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire (1932) and The Temptations of Christ (1952) – more closely reflect the pre-Elgar lineage of John Stainer, Stanford and Parry.
His first extended chamber piece was the Violin Sonata of 1934, dedicated to the violinist Sidney Hall and broadcast by him with the composer at the piano the following year.
[15] The four movement Suite in E for two pianos (1947) was written for Harry Isaacs and York Bowen, both colleagues of his at the Royal Academy.
[16] (many appeared in both solo voice and choral arrangements) (* collected in Thirteen Songs) Thiman wrote Practical Free Counterpoint, which was published in 1947.