This project is a collaboration between Archives and Special Collections and the Melbourne Data Analytics Platform. It draws on the Editions de l’Oiseau-Lyre archive in the Rare Music Collection, and is underscored by two core aims: to demonstrate the research potential of the archive, and to inspire arts and humanities researchers to consider whether displaying their own data-rich research visually could spark new and surprising insights.
The visualisation represents relationships built through publications, concerts and commissions. For example, Hanson-Dyer's print publications on the Editions de l'Oiseau-Lyre label involved relationships with living composers who offered her scores for publication; musicologists she engaged to edit, arrange or transcribe existing works for l’Oiseau-Lyre editions; and engravers, book designers, printers and binders engaged to prepare physical editions. Hanson-Dyer’s extensive output of 78, 45 and 33 1/3 rpm sound recordings involved relationships with a great number of musicians, conductors, composers and arrangers, as well as with sound engineers and printers who prepared the discs, and musicologists who wrote liner notes for the sleeves. Hanson-Dyer also commissioned artworks and designs for l’Oiseau-Lyre’s publications and marketing, and the visualisation includes her professional relationships with these artists, as well as those with the performers and composers engaged for l’Oiseau-Lyre concerts at her home in Paris.
The visualisation does not include those who Hanson-Dyer only engaged with socially, nor does it include the composers or arrangers who sent works to her that she did not commission or ultimately agree to publish.
As well as demonstrating the sheer number of people whose professional services Hanson-Dyer engaged—there are over 400 people in her network—this resource allows filtered viewing. A list of people and groups allows users to discover who was a part of Hanson-Dyer’s professional network and provides basic information about each entry.
The database containing details of the events, print publications and sound recordings that generated these relationships will be published online in 2024. For research enquiries relating to the visualisation, please email: special-collections@unimelb.edu.au
ASC would like to acknowledge to support of the Hanson-Dyer Bequests and the Melbourne Data Analytics Program (MDAP) in realising this project, alongside the project team: Daniel Russo-Batterham (Research Data Specialist, MDAP), Jen Hill (Curator, Rare Music) and Madeline Roycroft (Curatorial Assistant, Rare Music).
In the visualisation, information is divided into:
Nodes – the bubbles representing each figure
Edges – the lines representing connections between nodes
Create a map by selecting from two drop-down boxes. The first allows you to select from four categories: Nationalities, Roles, People & Groups, or Relationship Types. The second allows you to refine your search – either type directly into the search field or select from the drop-down list. You can select multiple options from the list, but in well-represented areas this may overcrowd the map.
Please note, crowded maps can take a moment to settle. Once they’ve done so, you can manipulate the position of nodes by clicking and dragging them.
Your results can be filtered by toggling the following to Yes or No:
Show nodes related to selection – displays a secondary tier of individuals and groups related to your initial search
Show edges related to Hanson-Dyer – displays each node’s link to Hanson-Dyer
Click on individual nodes to see further information on the right-hand side of the page.
For ease of reference, you can opt to colour nodes by nationality, role or gender.
This resource centres around Louise Hanson-Dyer, but the extensive nature of her network means it can also be used to explore connections between other figures active in the arts throughout her lifetime. The following example illustrates how the visualisation tool can be used to research musical life in interwar Paris.
Example of a search
A keyboard student at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music has become interested in the early music revival of the twentieth century, particularly the influence of the Polish harpsichordist Wanda Landowska, who attracted many harpsichord students to Paris between 1925 and 1940. When browsing the visualisation’s drop-down list of people and groups, the student recognises the names of a number of harpsichordists who studied with Landowska in Paris: Isabelle Nef, Ruggero Gerlin and Marcelle de Lacour.
After selecting these names and keeping Show nodes related to selection switched to Yes, the student sees a number of connections between these individuals. However, after switching Show nodes related to Hanson-Dyer to No, they see many links between Nef and Gerlin, but none with de Lacour.
Interpreting results
The many links between Nef and Gerlin indicate that these harpsichordists collaborated on many Oiseau-Lyre projects. Clicking on the names that link them, such as Pierre Pierlot, Marcel Frécheville, Georges Alès or Louis de Froment, reveals the nature of these relationships (primarily Recorded With in this case, i.e. playing together on a recording released on disc by Hanson-Dyer). Clicking on the names also lists other members of the network with whom that individual worked, as well as basic details about them.
De Lacour, on the other hand, never worked alongside Nef and Gerlin on a Oiseau-Lyre output. Clicking on her name reveals that her only relationship in the database is having her performance published on disc by Hanson-Dyer, indicating that she operated in the Hanson-Dyer network only as a solo recording artist. The visualisation therefore reveals that all three musicians worked with Hanson-Dyer; Nef and Gerlin worked with Hanson-Dyer on many of the same outputs; but the three musicians never worked with Hanson-Dyer at the same time.
Closer inspection of the connections within this map may also help to understand the networks that Nef and Gerlin established within the context of l’Oiseau-Lyre. Many names connect the Swiss and the Italian harpsichordist at the centre, top and bottom of the map, and choosing to colour the nodes by nationality reveals that these are primarily French and Belgian musicians, which is expected, given that both trained in Paris. However, at the left and right sides of the map we also see distinct networks: for Nef these are Swiss musicians, indicating that she continued to make recordings for the Paris-based label after returning to Geneva in 1936. For Gerlin, on the other hand, British, Australian and Canadian musicians form the distinct portion of his network, even though he moved from Paris to Naples in 1941. These unusual results could be used as a starting point for a study into the international recording and touring career of this under-researched musician.
Colouring results by nationality also speaks to the importance of international collaborations for Hanson-Dyer, and new or similar questions could arise when sorting the same results by gender or role.