He was a famous early-music conductor, flautist, and recorder player. In 1981, he founded the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, which now has over sixty members and with which he made many recordings.
He conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
He studied musicology at the University of Amsterdam. At age 21, he was appointed Professor at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. He later held positions at Harvard University (Erasmus Professor) and Berkeley University (Regent's Professor).