Sous-fonds 2 - Stratton-Clarke 78 rpm collection

• Sound recording

208 boxes of audio recordings + 2 cm of textual records

This collection of predominantly early opera recordings was collected throughout John Stratton's life, and afterwards, by Stephen Clarke, who managed Stratton's estate and was the curator of the collection for many years. The entire collection was donated to the Music Library in 2020, at which time, the LPs (approximately 120 linear feet) were integrated with the Library's existing collection of LPs. They can be found in the main catalogue with the call number prefix "SC". The archival Stratton-Clarke collection is made up of the 78 rpm recordings.

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.