A French musicologist, music critic and violinist, he was the pupil of Louis Laloy, André Pirro and Romain Rolland, among others.
From 1913 on, when the life and works of Antonio Vivaldi became the subject of his doctoral thesis, he was instrumental in the rediscovery of a number of baroque composers.
His biography of Vivaldi, published after World War II, was the basis for all further research regarding the composer and is still considered an influential and significant work to this day.
He was also the first to organize Vivaldi's works;[1] older publications and recordings often cite the Pincherle (or 'P') numbers, although the 'RV' catalogue devised by Ryom is now almost universally used.
He has been president of the French association of musicologists Société française de musicologie (1947-1955).