<b>Book of the Year 2022</b> - Presto Music Awards<br /><br />For years Nichols has been a regular contributor to music magazines, learned journals and symposia: and his latest book, <i>From Berlioz to Boulez</i> 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 <br /><br />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 <br /><br />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 <br /><br />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 <br /><br />...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