Johann Pachelbel Composed A Significant Number Of Pieces One Of Them Is The Canon

Johann Pachelbel composed a significant number of pieces, and was very highly regarded within his own lifetime (unlike the great J. S. Bach). While he is perhaps rightly considered inferior to the Baroque giants that were Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, I am rather curious why we only remember him overwhelmingly for one piece. He was certainly not a one-hit wonder in the 17th century.

The Canon in D major is the only of his compositions known to the general public today or perhaps even to some classical dilettantes. As a great fan of the composer, I wonder why history has forgotten his other great works -- it's almost as if the Canon is played everywhere ad nauseam to compensate for this fact! As charming as the Canon in D minor is (un-romanticised and in moderation), I rather feel that his Chaconne in F minor or Magnificat in C major are of greater artistic merit and better represent the man's finest work.

Now, before I post the celebrated Youtube video of a version of the work which I rather like, note the following:

Originally written in 1700 (elsewhere given as early as 1680) as a short, fast piece for three violins and basso continuo, the Baumgartner recording set the pace for outlandish arrangements of the work by slowing it down to about a third its original tempo.

Canon in D

"arguably the most widely used, recorded and recognizable instrumental work of all time."

I shan't argue with that, but I am curious as to how it got that way. MyCYCLOPEDIA (sic) of MUSIC and MUSICIANS, edited by Oscar Thompson , third edition, revised and enlarged, of 1944, gives ten lines on the composer but doesn't mention the Canon in D. or more properly, Canon and gigue, for 3 violins & continuo in D major, T. 337. A canon is of course a type of contrapuntal composition once popular, in which the theme is imitated by a second voice at an interval, and more voices after that if you like, though as with most things in the world it is a little more complicated than its one-line explanation. And a gigue is a jig.Here's a list of over 500 other works by the composer.

And that's the respectful version we're talking about. There are hideous disco and techno beat renditions out there.


Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)Johann Pachelbel was an acclaimed composer of the middle-Baroque period, and is regarded as one of the most important composers of the period, for his contributions to the development of the choral prelude and fugue. He was a prominent German organist and teacher, and of the many works he composed, “Canon in D major” is by far his most famous. It is technically sophisticated, merging several different musical forms; however, it is the only Canon Pachelbel wrote, and perhaps unrepresentative of his work.


What would Mr. Pachelbel think about it? I wonder if you stop caring when you're dead, or if there really is an afterlife and God lets you in on the Cosmic Joke and you just spend the rest of Eternity laughing. Who knows? I suspect Pachelbel would be too horrified by US to even get around to considering what we'd done with this canon out of all the canons he wrote. Nevertheless, this is Taiwanese Guitar virtuoso Jerry C. playing it (in one of the most popular videos on Youtube over the last couple of years). Of course it is no longer technically speaking a 'canon,' and whether the dramatic key shift at 3.53, creating the modern 'bridge' that facilitates its conversion into a rock anthem, originates here or in the work of a slick arranger in some other version, I do not pretend to know and haven't the time to find out. But this kid sure can play.