Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Sebastian continued to expand his available repertoire. He lobbied and sometimes commissioned contemporary composers to write harmonica pieces. Walter F. Anderson, Anthony Burgess,Edwards, Anna, "International Anthony Burgess Foundation (IABF): The Collections: Larry Adler and Anthony Burgess's Harmonica", Anthonyburgess.org, archived at archive.org July 2, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015. Luciano Chailly, Henry Cowell, Norman Dello Joio, Alan Hovhaness, George Kleinsinger, Frank Lewin, Donald Martino, Edward Robinson, Alexander Tcherepnin, and Heitor Villa-Lobos all composed works for him. Works created for Sebastian include Kleinsinger's "Street Corner Concerto" (1942), Tcherepnin's "Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra, Op. 86" (1953), and Hovhaness' "Concerto No. 6, op. 114" (1953–1954).Bardong, Matthias, harmonica song list.doc "'Classics' for Concert Mouth Organ" (song list), Harmonika International, Apr. 2000. Available online at http://www.harmonica.org.sg/Resources/download.html , archived at webcitation.org, June 20, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2015. When Villa-Lobos composed his "Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra" for Sebastian in 1955, Sebastian suggested changes that were approved by Villa-Lobos and incorporated into Sebastian's performance of the work.Burgess, Anthony. Homage to QWERT YUIOP: Selected Journalism 1978–1985. Hutchinson, 1986, p. 533. .Library of Congress, Concerto for harmonica and orchestra/ by H. Villa-Lobos music score (online catalog entry), No. 94772740, lccn.loc.gov ("Notes: This harmonica part is written the way John Sebastian played it, incorporating the changes he made in the original line with the approval of Villa-Lobos—p. 18."). Retrieved July 6, 2015. Sebastian himself also wrote several pieces for harmonica, including "Serenade for Exhale Notes", "Inca Dance", "Hornpipe Gigue", "Arabian Love Song", "Moroccan Serenade", and "Afro-Cuban Dance". Occasionally he also performed works that had been written for other harmonicists, such as Larry Adler.
