Throwback Thursday video: vintage Canadian Brass!

February 27, 2020

Here’s a Throwback Thursday for you – a vintage recording of the Canadian Brass performing Bach’s Toccata in D minor, with an amusing intro by Chuck Daellenbach, who is now the group’s only founding member.

Canadian Brass is a national treasure – the ensemble continues travelling around the globe, bringing with them innovative arrangements. I remember first seeing them as a kid, and growing up in my piano-dominated world, I saw brass instruments highlighted in a way I never had before. Up until then, as far as I was concerned the brass came out only during concertos and symphonies for Big Moments like in Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninoff. What I also loved about Canadian Brass was their concerts were downright entertaining and humour-filled – one of the first classical ensembles that I can recall that came across as serious about their art, but didn’t take themselves too seriously, if that makes any sense.

Enjoy this trip down memory lane! This broadcast is circa 1980.