1653–1706 · Baroque
Johann Pachelbel
1 work
Pachelbel was born in Nuremberg in 1653 and was a leading figure of the South German organ school. He worked as organist in Vienna (as deputy at St Stephen's), Eisenach, Erfurt, Stuttgart and Gotha. From 1695 he held the post at St Sebaldus in Nuremberg, where he stayed until his death in 1706. He taught Johann Christoph Bach, who in turn taught the young J. S. Bach.
His fame in his own time rested on organ music: more than 200 pieces, among them chorale preludes with the plain tune in an outer voice, fugues, chaconnes and toccatas. His style is clear and uncomplicated, with melodic and harmonic clarity. It is less virtuosic and less harmonically adventurous than Buxtehude's, and it blends Italian, southern German and French influences.
The Canon in D (P 37) is an exception among his works. It is scored for three violins and basso continuo and was paired with a gigue, both in D major. Its date and circumstances are unknown, with suggestions ranging from 1680 to 1706. It was first published in 1919 and stayed obscure until a 1968 recording by Jean-François Paillard's chamber orchestra, played slower and in a more Romantic style, made it popular. Structurally it is a canon in three voices, each entering two measures after the one before, over a repeating bass line that implies eight chords. Some scholars count 28 statements of that bass, each treated as a variation.
What to listen for
- The bass line that repeats unchanged through the whole piece, outlining eight chords (D, A, B minor, F-sharp minor, G, D, G, A).
- The three violins entering one after another, each playing the same melody two measures after the one before.
- How the violin rhythms change from variation to variation: slow notes first, then faster notes, then runs of quick notes, and later dotted rhythms and syncopation.
- That the music stays in D major throughout, with only the violin lines changing above the same eight chords.
Sources: Johann Pachelbel (Wikipedia), Pachelbel's Canon (Wikipedia)