Born in Uffholtz, Haut-Rhin (Alsace), Claussmann was a pupil of organist Eugène Gigout at the École Niedermeyer de Paris, where he obtained first prizes in piano and organ, before winning the Grand Prix of the Ministry of Fine Arts in 1872.
A virtuoso interpreter, he chose to pursue his entire career in the Puy-de-Dôme area, while a Parisian position would have been readily accessible to him.
He fulfilled his duties as organist of the cathedral, and assumed the function of director of the Conservatory, but he also performed well-known piano concertos with the orchestra of the city, which he occasionally directed.
The Alsatian origin of Claussmann makes his music a very successful synthesis of French and German schools, in which one certainly can identify César Franck, whose influence is certain, and Robert Schumann, but which possesses an indisputable personality of his own.
His work, together with those of other composers such as Marie-Joseph Erb from Strasbourg, Émile Bourdon in Monaco, Edouard Commette in Lyon, canon Fauchard in Laval, to name but a few, contributed to forge, in a way, the missing link between a recognised and celebrated Parisian organ music and the more discreet but undeniable contribution of the provincial masters to the elaboration of a language that contributed to the reputation of the French organ school.