Sous-fonds consists of the 78 rpm recordings from the Stratton-Clarke collection. The collection spans the entire history of 78 record production, including acoustic and electronic recordings, ranging from 7 to 14 inches in diameter. It consists predominantly of vocal recordings, representing the work of more than 1,000 different performers. Stratton and Clarke's collecting mandate focused on the Golden age of singing (pre-World War One), releases of the Mapleson cylinder recordings, Canadian performers, and early Russian recordings (pre-Revolution). Stratton also collected recordings by performers that he knew personally. The collection also contains miscellaneous memorabilia and ephemera related to the 78 rpm collection.
File contains incoming and outgoing correspondence between John Stratton and Harold Bruder regarding Bruder's article on tenor Manuel Garcia, published in Opera Quarterly vol. 13, no. 4 (January 1997).
File contains drafts of the following articles by John Stratton: "Francesco Tamagno, the Extraordinary" (The Opera Quarterly, 1996); "Rhythm and Melody" (June 25, 1997); talk for the Toronto opera group (May 30, 1999).
File contains incoming and outgoing correspondence between John Stratton and Milton Weiss regarding Stratton's purchases of various recordings from Weiss's auctions.
File contains John Stratton's lecture notes and a cassette of the audio recordings used in his lecture on the Mapleson Cylinders for the Association of Recorded Sound Collectors (ARSC) convention on May 9, 1990 in Ottawa, Ontario.
File contains John Stratton's lecture notes for talks on his music education, Lois Marshall, Florence Easton, playing speed of 78 rpm records, and Maurice Renaud.
File contains John Stratton's research notes and related correspondence for his article "Some Matters of Pitch," published in The Opera Quarterly, vol. 6, no. 4 (Summer 1989).
File contains drafts of the following articles by John Stratton: "Some Trends in this Century in Vocal Method for Opera" (talk given at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute); [Untitled talk] (July 2, 1980); "Echoes from Long Ago: The Mapleson Recordings" (Opera Canada, June 1985); letter response to review of DGG Don Giovanni and the reassessment of Sam Rame"Sam Shadow" by Matthew Gurewitsch (published in Opus, August 1987); "About Suzanne Adams (and some other thoughts)"; "Some matters of pitch" (The Opera Quarterly, Summer 1989); [Untitled talk] (September 15, 1985); and, "The 'What is it?' question" (September 12, 1985).
File contains John Stratton's lecture notes and a cassette of the audio recordings used in his two-part lecture on the Mapleson Cylinders, entitled "Live from the Met : 1901," which he delivered at Ryerson University on January 27, 1985 and January 29, 1985.
File contains drafts of John Stratton's article on the Mapleson Cylinders entitled "What can we hear?," which was writtedn for the New York Public Library and Metropolitan Opera Guild LP issue of the Mapleson Cylinder recordings.
John Stratton was on the board of Historic Masters and contributed many early Russian recordings to the re-release label. Includes correspondence and minutes of meetings (1982-2000), HM newsletters (1983-2010)
File contains lecture notes for talks given by John Stratton: "Some Trends in this Century in Vocal Method for Opera" (Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, February 24, 1982); "Singing Today and Yesterday" (University of Toronto, February 27, 1982); and, "Singers Today and Yesterday" (July 2, 1980).
File contains incoming and outgoing correspondence between John Stratton and Lawrence Holdridge regarding Stratton's purchase of various records from Holdridge Records.
File contains a discography of Ada Jones by Milford H. Fargo, as part of a lecture that Fargo gave for the Association for Recorded Sound Collections in Orange, New Jersey on March 31, 1977.
File contains correspondence between John Stratton and Douglas J. Stanbury regarding the latter's career and Stratton's article on Stanbury for the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. The file includes a draft of Stratton's article.
File contains clippings of articles on John Stratton and his record collection, lectures, and articles, including those in the Ryerson Rambler, The Ryersonian, Campus Canada, and Forum (newsletter published by the Information Services Department for Ryerson).
File contains incoming and outgoing correspondence between John Stratton and Walter K. Geddes, and a copy of duplicate 10-inch records in the Getty Collection from June 1995.
File contains John Stratton's response to James A. Stark's defense of his doctoral thesis "The rise of Virtuoso Singing" at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music.
File contains correspondence between John Stratton and Max de Schauensee regarding the latter's note on Emma Calvé for the re-release of her recordings under the Cantilena label.
File contains a newspaper clipping from The Toronto Star (March 18, 1972) of an article on the closing of Leonard Court's record store Ross, Court, and Co., and correspondence between John Stratton (on Court's behalf) and Enid Sassiver regarding a recording of Selma Kurz, and the teaching style of her teacher, Professor Johannes Ress.
File contains a newspaper clipping from a review by John Kraglund of Alfred Deller's performance (Globe and Mail, November 26, 1971) and a copy of a letter from John Stratton to Deller regarding a master class.
File contains incoming and outgoing correspondence between John Stratton and Allan Kelly, regarding His Master's Voice recordings, matrix numbers of particular recordings.
File contains the handout for Richard Bebb's talk, "An evening of wax cylinders" (Lord Leighton's House, June 10, 1972), with John Stratton's annotations and comments
File contains drafts of John Stratton's article on 78 rpm recordings entitled "Crackle," which was published in the journal of the British Institute of Recorded Sound (July 1970).
File contains two letters to John Stratton from Ira Glackens and G.K. Bishop respectively, both regarding Stratton's article "A ce mot" on the Mapleson Cylinder recording of Marcella Sembrich singing the aria of the same name from Les Huguenots.
File consists of a copy of John Stratton's doctoral thesis, submitted to the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto (1969), including his inserted annotations and corrections.
Subseries contains correspondence, research notes, and discographies on various early Russian singers and recordings, predominantly from before the Russian Revolution. John Stratton had a particular interest in these recordings and sponsored various re-releases through Historic Masters.
File contains incoming and outgoing correspondence between John Stratton and Iain Miller concerning Stratton's dissertation, various recordings, and playback speeds.
File contains correspondence between John Stratton and Capitol Records pertaining to a proposed project to re-release early, pre-revolution Russian recordings.
File contains John Stratton's lecture notes for a two-part lecture that he gave at the British Institute of Recorded Sound entitled "Crisis in the Art of Singing."
File contains incoming and outgoing correspondence between John Stratton and Philip Lieson Miller regarding Stratton's review of The Grand Tradition: Seventy Years of Singing on Record by J.B. Steane (New York: Scribner, 1974); Cantilena releases; and the Mapleson Recordings, among other topics.