He is mainly known today as an influential teacher at the Paris Conservatory, where he taught many musicians who became leading voices of French music in the late 19th and early 20th century.

His teachers were Pierre Zimmerman in pianoforte, Victor Dourlen in harmony, Jacques Fromental Halévy in fugue and Jean-François Le Sueur in composition.

He had many pupils including Isaac Albéniz, Georges Bizet, Claude Debussy, Louis Diémer, Théodore Dubois, Dominique Ducharme, Gustave Gagnon, Ernest Guiraud, Vincent d'Indy, Albert Lavignac, Marguerite Long, Edward MacDowell, Zulema Garcia Olsen, Émile Paladilhe, Gabriel Pierné, Francis Planté, Paul Rougnon, Paul Wachs, Józef Wieniawski, André Wormser, and Antoine Simon.

[3] See: List of music students by teacher: K to M#Antoine François Marmontel.

His musicographical works number among the best sources for the history of piano and pianists, particularly for the 19th century.