A student of Antoine François Marmontel, he obtained a first prize in piano at the Paris Conservatory in 1878.
[3] In 1884, the French Academy awarded him the Vitet prize in 1894 for his book Psychologie musicale, which he published the previous year with Delgrave.
[4] A follower of Charles Maurras and a Papal gentleman to Pius X, he married the niece of Herman Hoskier.
His daughter, Marie-Élisabeth Bellaigue, married the French politician Jacques Vendroux and was a close friend of Yvonne de Gaulle.
He taught singing to Wilfrid Pelletier and also coached him on piano in the French operatic repertoire.