From Patron to Publisher

: Louise Dyer and Les Éditions de l’Oiseau-Lyre, 1927-1940

Abstract

The music publishing house Les Éditions de l’Oiseau-Lyre was established in Paris in 1931 by an Australian, Louise Dyer (1884-1962), later Hanson-Dyer. Through her firm she challenged pre-existing norms from the start with the timely and acclaimed publication of the complete works of François Couperin, ‘le Grand’. This thesis reconsiders Dyer’s contribution to French musical culture in the interwar period and shows how she identified and resolved key issues, often earlier than other leading experts within the musical circles that she mixed in. As a woman, non-French and thus in all respects an outsider, her entry into the realm of music publishing confronted gendered and nationalistic conventions, was contested by some and supported by other leading members of the French political and musical elite. Scholarly work has previously recognised Dyer as an Australian woman of significance in the realm of music patronage, however recent published scholarship on musical culture in interwar France and on early music has largely ignored the extent of her contribution. I show that Dyer made notable contributions to interwar French musical culture, and that examining her activities offers a broader perspective on the critical, even if not central, role she played. My approach draws from a range of scholarly disciplines including women’s studies, life-writing and cultural history and on recently accessibly archive materials. Through four case studies I explore Dyer’s transition from patron-organiser into a cultural producer and examine the significant role she played in the ongoing construction of French musical culture in the interwar period. I particularly emphasise her role in the revival of early music and its association with neoclassicism and folk music, and in making this music more widely available to the general public. By addressing these broader aspects of her contribution my research adds to the body of knowledge on Dyer and her activities and to the study of French music in society and culture throughout the 1930s.

Date of Award	1 Sept 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	King's College London
Supervisor	Heather Wiebe (Supervisor) & Andy Fry (Supervisor)