cover image THE HARLEQUIN YEARS: Music in Paris 1917–1929

THE HARLEQUIN YEARS: Music in Paris 1917–1929

Roger Nichols, . . Univ. of California, $34.95 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-520-23736-0

Nichols (The Life of Debussy; Satie Remembered) draws a detailed picture of the vibrant, often risqué Parisian musical culture that flowered after the near debacle of WWI. The author eschews a chronological approach in favor of devoting individual chapters to the different musical institutions: the various orchestra series that had long been a major feature of Parisian musical life and played such an important role in introducing Wagner to French audiences; the opera houses and ballet companies; and the salons and their hostesses, like the Singer sewing machine heiress the princesse de Polignac. Nichols gives overdue attention to the Ballets Suédois, which is usually overshadowed by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Its founder, Rolf de Maré, provided opportunities for many young composers during the 1920s and discovered Josephine Baker. Nichols's writing is inconsistent, alternating between dry academic recitations and a more casual program-notes style. The book's compartmentalized structure works well enough until the last two chapters, when it unravels into a series of short, somewhat disconnected sections; the penultimate chapter on the leading composers of the '20s will probably satisfy few fans of their music. Nichols has many lively insights, but this study will appeal mainly to academics and die-hard music history buffs. 60 b&w photos. (Feb.)