Educational Media Reviews Online

One of the world's most successful and popular chamber ensembles, the Canadian Brass has earned its widespread appeal by combining superb musicianship with humor and theatricality. In this video, the quintet joins forces with children of varying ages to celebrate the Yuletide season in music and play. The experiment the title refers to is a holiday pageant run by the children, in which the Canadian Brass not only provide musical accompaniment, but also participate on-stage in varied attire, joining the fun with some unanticipated results.

During the fifteen musical numbers presented here, the various musicians allow the children to dress them as assorted Christmas toys, angels, wise men, Santa, and Frosty the Snowman, in lavish stage production numbers. The children share the spotlight as vocal soloists, angelic dancers, reindeer, North Pole elves, shepherds holding live animals, flying angels suspended over the stage, toddlers toying with ornaments, and smiling infants in mangers. Some lovely outdoor footage of the Brass with families and friends is added: enjoying a brisk sleigh ride, building a snowman, and skating on a frozen pond. Thus the film also celebrates the joys of the winter season as well as the Christmas traditions. Interspersed between the musical selections are unrehearsed interviews with children offering their unique interpretations of sacred and secular aspects of Christmas.

The original compositions and arrangements of familiar holiday music, by Christopher Dedrick are fresh and inventive. Each of the musicians' solo virtuosity gets ample chance to shine in the music, which also enables the ensemble's mastery of different styles to come forth. A jazzed-up "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" plays over the "Pachelbel Canon", while "Joy to the World" is quoted in the midst of Jingle Bells. Dedrick's "The Angel Choir and the Trumpeter" features intricate Baroque-like lines by Jens Lindemann on trumpet, accompanying a gorgeous melody sung by the Bach Childrens Chorus. Dedrick's treatments of the closing sing-along numbers "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" convey a sense of jubilation, with new life breathed into them.

The children provide some of the most delightful moments in this videotape. As with most school holiday pageants, mistakes are inevitable, and director Barbara Willis Sweete does an admirable job in capturing these. The youthful performers occasionally sing loudly before proper entrances, involuntarily burst into laughter, fidget in the choir ranks, and dance off-synch. One number appears to end in chaos, as animals get away from their shepherds and children chase after them behind rustling closed stage curtains. The overall effect from these incidents is endearing rather than disconcerting.

This videotape is recommended for public libraries, and can be enjoyed by general audiences of all ages. The sense of genuine warmth and good cheer generated by viewing this film might be a perfect cure for holiday cynicism or stress in this or any other year.