He recorded his daily routine from August 1914 to February 1919 in his diaries, and recounted how two carpenter comrades carved him a rudimentary wooden cello from an ammunition box, with which he played for religious services and for officers.

[4][5] While in the service he met other musicians, including Gustave Cloëz, Lucien Durosoir, André Caplet and Henri Lemoine, and formed with them a small ensemble that performed before the officer staff.

His friend Émile Poillot accompanied him on the piano during tours in Spain (1925 and 1926), France (1928), Singapore (1933)[7] and the Dutch Indies (1933).

He also was known for his interpretations of Épiphanie by André Caplet, and the concertos of Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud and Édouard Lalo.

Lois Perkins-Maréchal extensively discusses their life and her husband's artistic activity in the book, "L'Amérique avant les gratte-ciel" ("America Before the Skyscrapers"), published by France-Empire in 1979.