He studied musicology, philosophy and modern German literature at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg.
He received his doctorate in 1972 from Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht with a dissertation on The Minuet in the Instrumental Music of Joseph Haydn.
In 1972, he became assistant at the musicological institute of the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, where he habilitated in 1979 with the work Struktur und Ähnlichkeit.
He was a lecturer at the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (1990–2000) and deputy chairman of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in Bonn (1996–2004).
He wrote numerous books and articles about European musical history of composition of the 17th to the early 20th century.