By the turn of the century he was living and working in Bromsgrove, where he stayed for the following fifty years until his death.
Burnell put on performances of Elgar's Caractacus in 1914 and King Olaf in 1929 at the Bromsgrove Town Hall.
[4] Adrian Boult conducted a piece by Burnell with the City of Birmingham Orchestra in 1928.
[5] His compositions include the Passiontide cantata For Us Men (1939) for soloists, chorus and organ, advertised by his publishers Novello as an alternative to John Stainer's Crucifixion, and written in much the same simple, popular and direct style.
[6] His best known work was the anthem Surely the Lord is in this place, written for the dedication of Bromsgrove School's Memorial Chapel in May 1931.