Her career joined records, theatre and concert performance. Le Bel Indifférent, Milord and her late Olympia appearances show different settings for a voice often remembered through only a few recordings.

The Bibliothèque nationale de France’s centenary exhibition drew on letters, posters, photographs and personal objects. Those archives offer evidence about the performer behind the legend, including material preserved by people who worked closely with her.

The BnF's record for Hymne à l'amour credits Marguerite Monnot with the composition and Piaf with the words. It dates the work to 1949 and the Columbia release to 1950. That distinction separates the writing of a song from its appearance on record.

These credits show one form of collaboration in Piaf's repertoire: her role could extend beyond singing, but it varied by song. A recording performed by Piaf should not automatically be described as wholly written by her.

INA preserves a performance of Milord filmed during a French tour in late 1959 and broadcast on 15 January 1960. The archive credits Georges Moustaki for the words, Marguerite Monnot for the music and Piaf as interpreter.

The film offers evidence of her stage delivery beyond a studio recording, while the archive's dates identify when the performance was filmed and when viewers saw it. That is more precise than treating an undated online clip or a modern compilation's release year as the date of the performance itself.