He developed an early fascination with Richard Wagner and produced with his wife the first accepted English translations of The Ring and other works by Wagner. Liszt was also an important influence, and Corder produced one of the first English language studies of Liszt. His own compositions included songs, operas and cantatas.
Corder's Prospero overture is available in full score and can be heard on CD. Corder married Henrietta Walford, the daughter of Henry Walford on 25 September 1876. They had a daughter, Dorothea Charlotte (known as Dolly), born on 30 June 1878 (died in her nineties), and a son, Paul Walford Corder, born on 14 December 1879 (died on 7 August 1942).