Those interested in French music have often had reason to be grateful to Roger Nichols; his writings on Debussy, Ravel, Messiaen and Poulenc are indispensable to the music lover.

Nichols now turns his attentions to the mélodie, where it is his mission to encourage singers to explore beyond the well-trodden paths of French song. In these two anthologies he does not ignore masterpieces by composers of the stature of Fauré and Duparc, but sets them alongside music - almost impossible to find els...