[2][3] A critic with a strong bend towards empiricism, he frequently sought out first hand experiences, accounts and primary sources when writing; drawing his own conclusions rather than looking to what other writers had already written.

[5] As a critic he was particularly complimentary of German romanticism, and was a great admirer and promoter in the United States of Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and especially Richard Wagner and his musical theories.

He was a close friend and admirer of the conductor Anton Seidl who greatly enhanced his appreciation for Wagner and his music, and whose work he gave his most complimentary reviews.

He was not so complimentary to Wagner's main successors: Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler, and was also critical towards French impressionism and works of the Italian school.

This work resulted in numerous publications, including the first book published on African-American spirituals Afro-American folksongs: a study in racial and national music (1914).

In June 1874, he was attached to the staff of the Cincinnati Gazette where he began his career as a writer on sports and crime, reporting mainly on baseball games and murders.

Krehbiel translated some opera libretti, including: Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1886), Paderewski's Manru (1902), and Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor (1916).

[11] After Debussy's La mer was introduced in the US in 1907, Krehbiel wrote: Last night's concert began with a lot of impressionistic daubs of colour smeared higgledy-piggledy on a tonal palette, with never a thought of form or purpose except to create new combinations of sounds.

"[13] He was also highly critical of Gustav Mahler, both as a conductor and composer, once describing him as "a prophet of the ugly", and attacked Strauss for embracing hedonist themes in his works which he viewed as an amoral subject that did not uplift humanity as great music should.