After a turbulent voyage to South America where he was hired as a conductor, he came back to Paris and married into a family close to the founder of the Theosophical Society, Hélène Blavatsky. Named principal organist at the Sainte-Anne-de-la-Maison-Blanche church, he began a discrete career, even though his improvisations attracted large crowds. It was there that he composed a large number of works for the Church, which he premiered on every important holiday ; unfortunately many of these works have been lost.