Kostelanetz was well known for his arrangements and concerts of lighter music, but he also supported more serious music. He premiered and recorded several Hovhaness works, including Floating World, and And God Created Great Whales. All of Kostelanetz's Hovhaness recordings were released on CBS discs, but have not been re-issued on CD.

To guarantee high-profile performances by Kostelanetz and the New York Philharmonic, Hovhaness reluctantly made somewhat questionable revisions to his scores when asked to by Kostelanetz, most notably replacing the original soft ending to Meditation on Orpheus with a loud one, a revision he subsequently regretted.

Photograph courtesy of New York Philharmonic Archive