 Cuénod was born in Corseaux-sur-Vevey, Switzerland.His grandfather, William Cuenod was the mayor of Corseaux and he had half English ancestry through his grandmother, through his ancestry he was related to both the Churchill and Spencer family In 1913, aged 11, Cuénod attended the 78th birthday party of Camille Saint-Saëns, who played piano duets with Ignacy Jan Paderewski.He received his French-German music training at the Ribaupierre Institute in Lausanne, at the conservatories in Geneva and Basel, and in Vienna.