[1] Dirksen composed extensively, mostly choral and organ works, and his music continues to be regularly featured on broadcasts from the Cathedral.

His 1974 opus, Vineyard Haven, has been called "widely acclaimed as one of the finest hymn tunes of our day", by editors of hymnology.

Awarded a scholarship, he then studied organ at Baltimore's Peabody Conservatory under Virgil Fox, graduating magna cum laude in June, 1942.

[1] While still studying at Peabody, Dirksen became assistant organist to Paul Callaway at the Washington National Cathedral in February, 1942.

His most well-known compositions include: He married Joan Milton Shaw in 1942 and the couple had four children: Richard, Geoffrey, Laura, and Mark.