L’Oiseau Lyre music editions and record label. The invaluable work of Louise B.M. Dyer by Bruno Gaullier

At the end of the 1960s, after graduation, I studied in the sound department of the French Cinema School of Paris. I have been in the audio business since then. In the 60s we had a very prestigious audio fair in Paris called “Festival du Son” (Festival of sound), which took place in the Hôtel du Palais d’Orsay. There, in 1967, I met André Charlin for the first time. Charlin was a sound engineer, a manufacturer and an inventor. My research into André Charlin’s recordings continues today and I am reissuing music from his LP catalogue, newly digitised, in a series called “Charlin Renaissance”.

During the period 1949–1956/7 André Charlin was the only person to record and cut l’Oiseau Lyre sound recordings for Louise Hanson-Dyer. Dyer claimed that hers was the only record label employing its own sound engineer for the production process from beginning to end: from recording session to record pressing. Even more interestingly, Louise Dyer was personally invested in long-playing records and she was the first to fully produce an LP in Europe. A fluent French speaker, she gave the name of LD - Longue Durée to l’Oiseau Lyre long-playing records. I wonder if she used this to double as a signature: LD as in Louise Dyer. I have a personal collection of l’Oiseau Lyre LPs and they are all of great musical interest.

After retiring I had time for my own research. I contacted Jennifer Hill at the University of Melbourne, who welcomed me to “dig” in the archives of l’Oiseau Lyre. In May 2016 I had the opportunity to consult these attractive archives for a full week. Thank you again to Jennifer and the University for their help and welcome.

Links to pages of my website which concern Louise Dyer, l’Oiseau Lyre and André Charlin are given below.

A foreword, introducing L’Oiseau-Lyre (in French)  In English

L’Oiseau-Lyre – Louise B.M. Dyer – Les Editions de l’Oiseau-Lyre (in French) In English

L’Oiseau-Lyre after Louise B.M. Dyer (in French) In English

André Charlin and l’Oiseau-Lyre (in French)

A table listing the L’Oiseau-Lyre discs recorded by Charlin (in French)