His studies under Genrikh Litinsky at the Moscow Conservatory were interrupted by a term of duty in the entertainment division of the Red Army.
His works have been recorded by artists including David Oistrakh, Jascha Heifetz, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Vladimir Yampolsky.
A recording of the opening of his first symphony was played in a lecture-demonstration given at the University of Warwick during the first academic year in which it had undergraduates (1965–1966), by Geoffrey Bush.
Among his students: A. Tchaikovsky, Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, A. Baltin, A. Vieru (Romania), N. Terahara (Japan), Kang San U (PRC), V. Babushkin, V. Polyansky, Ashot Ariyan and many others.
He also received the Diploma of the Russian Federation President[4] (March 6, 2011 – for great contribution to the development of national culture and the many years of creative activity) and the Moscow City Hall prize (1999).