The American writer and music critic, Tim Page observed that, “Glinsky's work is generated by American popular music, and is cast in a traditional framework of gesture and form.” [3] The first piece to fully incorporate this idea was the Rhapsody for Solo Violin, Flute, Strings, and Timpani (1971-1974), described variously by critics as evoking, “the hoedown sound of Kentucky bluegrass,” [4] and employing, “pentatonic, a dash of Blues, Country, pop and quartal harmonies...skillfully and organically mixed.

"[5]The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that the Rhapsody, “effectively translates…‘folk-rock music and other popular musics’ into an orchestral format.”[6] In a similar vein, the composer's piano Elegy (1976) was noted by The Washington Post as “a rhapsodic, syncopated classical jazz ballad that is splendidly crafted.”[7] Allan Kozinn, writing in The New York Times, termed the Elegy, “…a beautifully wrought fantasy, in which diverse influences (from Debussy to Cecil Taylor, with a touch of Rachmaninoff) show through but never dominate.

Its central section is full of fascinating and unpredictable harmonic turns.” [8] Another early work to make significant use of pop idioms was the Mass for Children's Voices (1978), a piece which the composer stated, “is set in a contemporary folk/rock style, yet at the same time has traditional overtones of chorale writing and unison chant.”[9] American Record Guide remarked on Glinsky's success in combining disparate styles in Sunbow (1983), which “reflects the world of unmeasured preludes beloved by his wife, Linda Kobler (the harpsichordist for whom the work was written) and his own zest for rock music (he cites Stevie Wonder as the inspiration .

The synthesis of styles—a Glinsky trademark—provides not only an overall, idiomatic effect but specific musical nuggets—points of inspiration drawn from contemporary performers such as folk rocker Suzanne Vega... or British concept rocker Kate Bush.” [13] Glinsky's Canandaigua Quartet (1996), which opens the Oregon String Quartet's CD, All That Jazz; Jazz and Rock Influences in the Contemporary American String Quartet, prompted the Journal of the Society for American Music to comment: "If we may indeed interpret this recording as a melding of two worlds, this selection is a perfect one with which to raise the curtain.” The review likened portions of the first movement to “a back-beat rhythm in a rock band,” while the last movement, "Spin Out", was noted for “especially interesting ponticello, tremolo, and glissando effects that simulate an electric guitar or synthesizer.”[14] Fanfare magazine remarked on the “folk elements in the already heady jazz and rock mix.”[15] Another compositional area Glinsky has explored is electronic music, prompted by the work he did at the New York University studios in the mid-1980s with a variety of digital and analog synthesizers including the alphaSyntauri, Voyetra-8, Serge, Buchla, Moog, McLeyvier, Aries, Yamaha DX7, and the Fairlight CMI.

The composer's 1995 piece on the subject of homelessness, Day Walker, Night Wanderer, is a 45-minute dramatic work for chamber ensemble, solo vocalist, and an electronic score.

In short, I have attempted to join together ‘art song’ and ‘art rock’ in an amalgam which draws the deeper levels of psychological exploration from the one, and weds it to the spontaneity and directness of the other.” [16] Among Glinsky's recent works are his Allegheny Quartet (2009), commissioned for the 250th Anniversary of the city of Pittsburgh—described by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review as “an immediately appealing work,” incorporating “the very effective setting of Native American, French and English folk tunes,”[17] and his Sun Chanter (2013), commissioned for the 100th Anniversary of the Erie Philharmonic—a piece which, according to the composer, integrates influences of musical theater into the harmonic language.

His works have been commissioned, performed, and recorded by such organizations as the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Cavani String Quartet, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Relache, the Boys Choir of Harlem, the Erie Philharmonic, the Westmoreland Symphony, the Oregon and Biava String Quartets, Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia,[19] the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society,[20] and by pianists Greg Anderson, Neil Rutman, Tibor Szasz, and Leslie Spotz, violinist Maria Bachmann, and conductors Walter Hendl, Eiji Oue, Edmond de Stoutz, Ignat Solzhenitsyn, and Daniel Meyer, among others.

In my estimation, it compares most favorably with the Samuel Barber piano concerto.”[26] Glinsky's Throne of the Third Heaven is referenced in the book, Weird Virginia, which includes a section on the visionary sculpture of the same name, created by James Hampton, that inspired the composer's orchestral work.

[34] Albert Glinsky's biography, Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage, with a Foreword by Robert Moog, was published in 2000 by the University of Illinois Press, and received positive worldwide press coverage in both print and broadcast media, ranging from the Toronto Star[35] and The Weekly Standard[36] to Electronic Musician magazine,[37] Computer Music Journal,[38] and Performance Today (National Public Radio).

"[40] The Washington Post found it, “exhaustively researched and revealing,”[41] and Larry Lipkis wrote in the Library Journal that it “approaches the writings of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn in its intensity.

The biography is cited in the book Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America;[76] the author was interviewed on the podcast, Spycraft 101;[77] and Glinsky was invited to lecture at the CIA in Langley, Virginia on Leon Theremin's Great Seal Bug, also known as The Thing.

Theremin received the 2001 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award,[1] and since the book's publication, Glinsky has been invited to present lectures on Leon Theremin and his work at many venues in the U.S. and abroad, including at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Katonah, New York, the Encuentro de Vanguardias 1er Tecnologicas y Culturales in Madrid, Spain, the Moogfest in Asheville, North Carolina, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and at American and Canadian colleges and universities.