He was born Roland Alexis Manuel Lévy in Paris, to a family of Belgian and Jewish origins.
As a young man he befriended composer Erik Satie, who helped him to make numerous influential connections.
In 1911, Satie introduced Roland-Manuel to Maurice Ravel, whose pupil, friend and biographer he soon became.
In 1947, he was appointed Professor of Aesthetics at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he remained until his retirement in 1961, making many contributions to musical theory and criticism, even assisting[how?]
[1] Roland-Manuel's criticism included several monographs on the music of Ravel from the perspective of a respectful pupil and a lifetime friend.