Johann Pachelbel

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Johann Pachelbel (1653-1707) began his musical instruction in South Germany at an early age. He studied in Nuremburg, Altdorf, and Regensburg, before moving to Vienna in 1671, where he became student and deputy organist to Kerll at the Imperial chapel. In 1677 he was organist for one year in Eisenach - the city of Bach's birth some eight years later.


In 1690 Pachelbel became court organist at Stuttgart. Two years later he took his final post, in Nuremburg. His repertory, particularly his technique of chorale variation, is thought to have been inspirational to the great J. S. Bach, who was a known admirer.

His most famous work - his Canon in D - is a baroque piece of music and has been interpreted by many, even found in modern pop songs. Canon is often recognized but sometimes not known by it's name or composer. It is very popular at weddings, especially in the USA.

A Canon (or Kanon) is when a piece of music is imitated and repeated. First one instrument or vocal starts with a piece of the melody. Then after a number of tones, a second instrument or vocal starts to repeat, or imitate, the first one, playing the exact same tones, but with a time delay. More instruments or vocals may fill in depending on the composers wishes.

Pachelbel wrote both free works (toccatas, fantasies, fugues, etc.) and chorale settings. His development of the "cantus firmus" chorale is perhaps his greatest contribution. It consists of the chorale melody in long notes, one phrase at a time, each phrase preceded by fore-imitation in the accompanying voices. This compositional pattern influenced many other composers and eventually became a standard form.