Like his brother, he began as a choirboy at the Abbey of Saint-Sernin, where he studied music.
At the age of sixteen, he joined the theater in Montpellier as a cellist.
Two years later, he became a cellist at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux.
In 1772, he was admitted to King Louis XVI's chapel.
He retired from the Opera House in 1806 and committed suicide less than five years later in Paris, cutting his throat with a razor.