The French composer Marcel Landowski was assisted early in his career by the support of the conductor Pierre Monteux and has had an active career in music administration, as director of the Conservatoire of Boulogne-sur-Seine, music director at the Comédie française and as music director with the Ministry for Cultural Affairs.

His music retains an element of popular appeal, avoiding the experimental excess that can alienate an audience, while he is still no mere conservative.

Orchestral music by Marcel Landowski includes four symphonies, the first of them Jean de la peur (John of Fear).

His concertos include works for the electronic ondes Martenot, for trumpet, for flute, for bassoon and for piano.

In addition to his operas, Marcel Landowski has set a variety of texts, including a text by Rabindranath Tagore, suggesting the continuing influence of the East on his thought.