Roger Nichols is a leading British authority on modern French music and a Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur. His publications include Ravel, The Harlequin Years: Music in Paris, 1917-1929, and volumes on Debussy and Messiaen.
"Absorbing . . . Nichols gives an assured overview of Poulenc's
life and work, applying a light touch that is appropriate to the
subject's man-about-town facade."-Alex Ross, New Yorker
"Roger Nichols examines Poulenc's life and charming music . . . An
accessible biography for the common reader."-John Check, Wall
Street Journal
"I don't think anyone writes better about classical music than
Nichols, his wry humour and gift for surprising connections never
losing touch with scholarly erudition."-Duncan Fallowell,
Spectator
"Nichols interweaves life and works in a narrative richly informed
by his long immersion in modern French music."-Rupert Christiansen,
Literary Review
"True to form, Nichols presents the life of Poulenc in a scholarly,
clear and authoritative style...This beautifully produced,
meticulously researched book will certainly grace the shelves of
music lovers, especially those with a keen interest in French
music."-Stephen Greenbank, MusicWeb International
"Refreshingly open about the limits of the evidence, especially for
the composer's various flings, Nichols provides rich context making
this essential reading for anyone interested in the French musical
culture of Poulenc's time. This is the biography the composer
deserves."-Christopher Dingle, BBC Music Magazine 'Best
Books of 2020'
"This expertly researched, well-written volume contains a
surprising recent discovery about its subject's private
life."-George Hall, Opera
"Expertly details how music drama was an essential part of
[Poulenc's] life and achievement, almost from birth...Nichols
presents the full background information needed to understand just
how Poulenc became passionate about opera."-Benjamin Ivry, Opera
Now
CHOICE 2021 Outstanding Academic Title
"Nichols is the perfect biographer for Poulenc. He has the same
light touch, the same urbane charm and wit, and he knows everything
there is to know about French music, its sources, its context and
its psychology."-Stephen Walsh, author of Debussy
"Packed with entertaining detail and engagingly written, Nichols'
biography is essential reading for anyone interested in French
music of the 20th century."-Caroline Potter, author of Erik
Satie
"A fluent biography, written with sensitivity and compelling
enthusiasm for the composer's music. Readers are guided to the
poetry behind the music and the theology behind his
Carmelites, all in the context of the highs and lows of the
life of this fascinating man."-Professor Richard Langham Smith,
Royal College of Music
"It is with great expectation that we should welcome the release of
this book about the quintessential French musician Francis Poulenc;
all the more so for being written by Nichols who is such an
authority on the subject."-Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor and
violinist
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