Maurice Clare – Maurice Clare Rediscovered

The session notes for the 1974 recording show that Fantasias Nos. 1-5 were recorded on Monday, 26 August; Fantasias 7-12 on Tuesday, 27 August, followed by a day without recording. Fantasia No. 6 was recorded on Thursday, 29 August 1974. In these early days, it was Nimbus’ practice to assemble masters quickly after recording, and given the founders’ fierce commitment to ‘unedited’ takes, it is a reasonable bet that the master was assembled from the best whole takes of each movement. Scribbled words on the last page of the session notes suggest future possibilities: Tartini 24 Sonatas, Boccherini Quartets and Quintets with a ‘very, very good pupil’ for 2nd violin and ‘Amo’ (Fleming) on cello. Alas, it never happened. Apart from the Recording Agreement itself, there is no general correspondence in the Nimbus archive to explain how Maurice Clare found himself at Nimbus’ Birmingham studio, nor why Telemann was the chosen repertoire. It is intriguing that