From Berlioz to Boulez

After studying music at Oxford with Edmund Rubbra and Frederick Sternfeld, Roger Nichols taught in schools and universities until 1980, when he became a freelance author, reviewer, translator, editor, lecturer, broadcaster and pianist. He began broadcasting for BBC Radio 3 in 1976, mainly on French music since 1820. His radio series The Harlequin Years, on music in Paris from 1917 to 1929, formed the basis of a book of the same title. Other publications include biographies of Debussy, Ravel and Poulenc. His editions of French music with Peters Edition of London include most of Ravel's piano music and the complete Duparc songs. In 2006 he was appointed Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur for services to French culture. Since 2007 he has contributed articles and reviews to BBC Music magazine.

Book of the Year 2022 - Presto Music AwardsFor years Nichols has been a regular contributor to music magazines, learned journals and symposia: and his latest book, From Berlioz to Boulez is an invaluable collection of these writings, covering almost two centuries of French musical life. For anyone interested in French music, this book is the perfect companion. For those acquiring the interest, it is a comprehensive primer, written by an absolute master. - Simon Heffer - The Daily Telegraph Nichols's prose throughout is elegant and concise, compassionate and witty, which allows him both to dig deep into complex subjects with detailed clarity and provide us with superb sketches of composers such as Lalo, Magnard and Schmitt, condensing lives, personalities and achievements in the briefest of spaces. It all adds up to a lovely book that encapsulates a lifetime's enthusiasm and understanding, and above all sends you back to the music itself with renewed insight and wonder. - Tim Ashley - Gramophone From Berlioz to Boulez truly takes you over a span of some 150 years - from the late Romantic to the Modern - all through the work of the greatest composers in France. Roger Nichols tracks trends, he follows friendships, notes where enemies were made, and places us in the middle of the most exciting periods in the development of music in France. We cannot recommend this book highly enough. - Maureen Buja - Interlude.hk This is a book to be savoured slowly like a fine wine. A work to relish and to linger over for a lifetime. It can be dipped into rewardingly but read from cover to cover, it is an enthralling chronicle of a turbulent and fertile period in the history of French music, from Berlioz to Boulez. - Jeremy Sams ...an engagingly-written style combined with authoritatively-researched content that is both entertaining to read and highly informative... - Book of the Year - Presto Music Awards 2022

• Foreword by Jeremy Sams,Preface by Roger Nichols,1. Hector Berlioz - fantasy and fury,2. ... and beyond ...,3. Frederic Chopin - a difficult genius,4. Charles Gounod,5. Edouard Lalo,6. Camille Saint-Saens,7. Leo Delibes,8. Jules Massenet - a man of pleasure,9. Chabrier - selected letters,10. Heap, heap, Hurrah! - a review,11. The Angel of Laughter,12. Gabriel Faure - Pelleas et Melisande,13. Debussy - the reception of his music in Britain up to 1914,14. Debussy as man and artist,15. Debussy and Degas - beyond Impressionism,16. Debussy, Ravel and an orchestra for the 20th century,17. Debussy, d'Annunzio and Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien,18. Pelleas et Melisande / L'Enfant et les sortileges,19. Pelleas et Melisande - reviews by d'Indy, Dukas and Willy,20. Who was Melisande?21. Pelleas et Melisande - interview with Irene Joachim,22. Alberic Magnard,23. Florent Schmitt,24. Erik Satie,25. The Trouble with Satie,26. Parade - a mix of extraordinary talents,27. Le Groupe des Six - 100 years on,28. Reynaldo Hahn,29. Raveliana - new insights,30. Ravel and the 20th century,31. Ravel and the Dance,32. Ravel and Spain,33. Ravel, Dreyfus and Sex,34. Ravel and the critics,35. The Chatelet Ballet Gala of 22 April 1912,36. Music and Impressionism,37. Jean Cocteau and Igor Stravinsky,38. Arthur Honegger - Incantation to the fossils - a documentary,39. Francis Poulenc, French ballet, and the pleasure principle,40. Francis Poulenc - and the road to La Voix humaine,41. Maurice Durufle,42 Messiaen and the journey to a world beyond,43. Messiaen - ornitheology and all that,44. Messiaen at 70 - an interview,45. Debussy and Messiaen,46. Ravel and Messiaen - accords and discords,47. Messiaen - Interview with Pierre Boulez,48. Messiaen - Interview with Dame Gillian Weir,49. Music in Paris in the 1940s,50. Henri Dutilleux at 75 - Conversations,51. Henri Dutilleux at nearly 90,52. Henri Dutilleux - Obituary,53. Pierre Boulez and Andre Schaeffner - a review,54. 30 years of IRCAM,55. Adieu, Pierre Boulez - Obituary,Index.