Pachelbel's+Canon

**Johann Pachelbel**

Johann Pachelbel was born in 1653 in Nuremberg into a middle-class family. He was the son of Johann (Hans) Pachelbel, a wine dealer, and his second wife Anna (Anne) Maria Mair. The exact date of Johann's birth is unknown, but since he was baptized on September 1, he may have been born in late August.
 * Biography**

During his early youth, Pachelbel received musical training from Heinrich Schwemmer, a musician and music teacher who later became the cantor of St. Sebaldus Church (//Sebalduskirche//). Although Pachelbel was an outstandingly successful organist, composer, and teacher at Erfurt, he asked permission to leave, apparently seeking a better appointment, and was formally released on August 15, 1690, bearing a testimonial praising his diligence and fidelity.

All through his life, Pachelbel moved from one place to another. When work dried up at one position he moved on to the next. Pachelbel's compositions for the organ was extensive and his later fugues were also quite influential during his lifetime. He was described by the Duke of Saxe-Eisenach as a "perfect and rare virtuoso". Ironically enough, Canon in D, the song that Pachelbel is most remembered for was relatively obscure during Pachelbel's lifetime and for many years afterwards.

In 1706, Johann Pachelbel died at the age of 52, his exact death date unknown, and was buried on the 9th of March.

During his lifetime, Pachelbel was best known as an organ composer, most likely because he had learnt organ from such an early age. He wrote more than two hundred pieces for the instrument, both liturgical and secular, and explored most of the genres that existed at the time. Pachelbel was also a prolific vocal music composer: around a hundred of such works survive, including some 40 large-scale works. Only a few chamber music pieces by Pachelbel exist, although he might have composed many more, particularly while serving as court musician in Eisenach and Stuttgart. This is Pachelbel's most famous work and it is one of the most widely recognised baroque tunes. It is the only canon Pachelbel wrote and was originally arranged for three violins and a cello. Its full title is //Canon and Gigue in D//. 'Canon' refers to the song's structure and 'Gigue' is a baroque dance.
 * Canon in D ** media type="custom" key="3481100"

This page is an analysis of the music. You can download the sheet music here:


 * How does it sound?**



The melody - One thing which is interesting about Canon in D is that all the violins imitate the melody. The melody is the most memorable part of the song and it is the first violin who begins it in the third bar of the music.

The song makes use of dynamics but not for the dramatic effect as in pieces like Joseph Hayden's "Surprise". The melody sounds peaceful and it is described as being "the perfect wedding music."


 * Rhythm**

The piece starts off with crotchets at 56 bpm. (Faster and slower renditions have been heard, and it is actually pretty likely that when it was first written it was played at a moderate to fast tempo. However, for the purposes of this analysis, let us presume the tempo is 56 bpm.)

Canon in D employs what is known as variation to its rhytmic pattern. The actual tempo does not change during the song. Although the song follows the same chord progression and beat throughout its entirety, the rhythmic patterns are subject to change, from crotchets to quavers to semiquavers, etc.


 * Structure**

As the guy in the video below rants, the cello plays the same two bars in a total of 28 times throughout the whole song. The canon itself is relatively simple and makes no use of augmentations, dimunitions, etc.

Below is a picture illustrating the first nine bars of the song. The colours are used to show each entry into the canon.


 * Texture**

Canon in D has a polyphonic, or contrapuntal, texture. This means that two or more equally important melodies weave along at the same time. In Canon in D, the contrapunctal texture is created through just one musical idea, and the violins simply imitate each other. In the beginning, the first violin plays the first two bars of the canon's melody. At this point, the second violin enters with the beginning of the melody, whilst the first violin continues with the next two bars of the canon. Then the third violin commences the canon, whilst the second violin plays the third and fourth bars and the first violin continues with the fifth and sixth. The three violin parts then follow one another at two bars' distance until the end of the piece.


 * Harmony**

Harmony is the succession of chords or chordal progressions by two or more parts, or voices, playing or singing together.

Examine closely the cello's part:

The chord progression used in this sequence is:


 * D major
 * A major
 * B minor
 * F sharp minor
 * G major
 * D major
 * G major
 * A major

The violins at all times play over these chords.


 * Pachelbel's canon in popular culture

media type="youtube" key="JdxkVQy7QLM" height="344" width="425"**

You may have heard Canon in D in the following places:

Films: Father of the Bride; Ordinary People. TV ads for: Ambrosia; Threshers Wines; Pure New Wool, British Gas. Coolio rap single in 1997; 1968 Aphrodite's Child single Rain and Tears; The Farm single All Together Now used for Euro 2004; Go West by The Pet Shop Boys. In lots of shopping malls and other muzak palaces; at the funeral of Lady Diana Spencer.

The song //Canon Rock// by Jerry Chang is one of the more popular renditions of Pachelbel's Canon.

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