The Canadian Brass on NPR Tiny Desk Concert

 I feel like I'd be leaving out quite a massive name if I didn't talk about the Canadian Brass at least once in this blog. I'd like to talk about them in the context of this performance they did about twelve years ago for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series. 

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l-E3kyNcag&list=RD-l-E3kyNcag&start_radio=1 

The Canadian Brass I think could be argued to be the most popular brass quintet in the world at this point, or at the very least one of the most popular. They have been active since 1970 and have toured around the world, made many CD's and records, made public appearances, and generally have at least some level of public awareness even today. 

The reasons why they've managed to stay so popular are easy to identify, the play remarkably well, they market themselves well, they tour, and generally they play repertoire that is pretty easy on the ears of general audiences. Many criticize the group for that last point; while they play classical music, it is normally music that would fall into the realm of "pops" music, and they generally stick to that. 

I think this brings up the issue that this blog has really tried to highlight. In order to gain mass appeal, you have to play to the masses a bit. In doing so it can damage our reputation as great artists always trying to push the field forward, and highlight new innovative works for our instruments. But, if you don't do anything to popularize our instruments with the masses, how do you get the average joe interested in brass quintet music? Once more, it's an issue that I don't have the answer to, and every musician must find their own conclusion. 

I can offer this though. I believe that the Canadian Brass serve as a great starting point for people to get into brass quintet music. They play classics that people like, and it gets them hooked on this type of ensemble. They excite young players who might not have heard quintet music yet, and makes them want to do chamber music when the opportunity arrives for them. I think that for so long as we have performers who can do this at such a high level occupying this role in the brass world, we're in good hands.    

Comments

  1. Maxwell GradisherApril 28, 2025 at 4:39 PM

    I think you bring a really important point about music appeal to the masses. I feel like this happens because people do not involve themselves with classical music making the genre obsolete and less palatable making it harder for Canadian Brass to gain a following. However, they have done an amazing job going against this and gaining a huge following of non musicians.

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  2. Robert KrauseApril 30, 2025 at 5:59 AM

    Canadian Brass is known for their ability to interact with the audience and make their performances feel so inviting. Having seen them live a few times, I can say that I was not disappointed. Like you said, they received some flak and criticism for the arrangements and how "appealing to the masses" they can be. However, that is part of what we have to do as performers and that is getting the audience to be interested, invested, and enjoy the performance. Canadian Brass does a great job of making interesting arrangements that can be fun to listen to and are quite tricky for the musicians.
    Thanks for sharing this post!

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