[1] The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as musical analysis that combines sociological, cultural, and political perspectives has incited much discussion, debate and controversy.

He researched a wide variety of areas, but a central topic was Russian music from the 18th century to the present day.

[6] He also wrote extensively for lay readers, including numerous articles in The New York Times beginning in the mid-1980s.

[6][9] They were often "lively, erudite, fiercely articulate"[6] and controversial, with targets such as Elliott Carter, Carl Orff, and Sergei Prokofiev.

[12] His writings frequently took up social, cultural, and political issues in connection with music—for example, the question of censorship.

In 1978, he was the first recipient of the Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society (AMS) for his research and recording of Ockeghem's Missa prolationum.

[16] He received the Alfred Einstein Award (1980) from the AMS and the Dent Medal (1987) from the Royal Musical Association.

[8][9][21] In 2012, a conference honoring him and his work, After the End of Music History, was held at Princeton University.